Olga Kravets

«Grozny Blues» follows a few people around Grozny, the capital of war-torn Chechnya where daily life is defined by political repression, constricting customs, forced Islamification and the failure to come to terms with recent history. The film revolves around four women who have been fighting for human rights under worsening conditions for many years but get more and more disillusioned with the situation in Putin’s Russia. The building where they work is also home to a Blues Club that is frequented by a group of young people. Having only vague memories of the Chechen wars in the 90s, they try to make sense of the strange things that are happening in their country. In linking the personal and intimate to the political, Nicola Bellucci shows in a dramatic and yet very poetic way what it means to live in a divided society that navigates a no-man’s land between war and peace, repression and freedom, archaic traditions and modern life.

When spirited troublemaker Maria pushes her overwhelmed father too far, he takes her to their remote family cabin, hoping a dose of wilderness will teach her discipline. But after a mysterious forest encounter turns him into a bear, Mila must protect her Papa Bear from a local hunter. As the two navigate hilarious mishaps and unexpected bonding, they discover that the wild has a way of bringing families closer—one bear hug at a time.