Unclenching the Fists

Ada lives in a former mining town in the Caucasus together with her father, Zaur, and her younger brother, Dakko. It is not only the steep cliffs that give Ada a feeling of being trapped. Her father confuses care with control, keeping the children on a short leash and watching over their every move. The eldest son, Akim, has already left to find work in the nearest town. When he returns home, the family's unspoken trauma erupts – and Ada begins to plot her own escape from her father's grip. Director Kira Kovalenko creates an extraordinary closeness to the members of a dysfunctional family where love and hate go hand in hand. A breath-taking cinematic tour de force.