Paris-based worldwide gross sales and manufacturing firm Totem Films have boarded debutant Malika Musaeva’s “The Cage is Looking for a Bird,” which can obtain its world premiere within the Encounters strand of the upcoming Berlin Film Festival.
The movie focuses on a bunch of Chechen girls dwelling in a distant rural village and their struggles to defend their proper for freedom and the selection to dwell their very own lives. At the centre is a friendship between two teenage women, on the verge of maturity, who search refuge in one another as they navigate selections round their future.
Musaeva was born in Grozny, Chechnya, in 1992. During the Second Chechen War in 1999 her household fled and lived in Ingushetia and Ukraine, earlier than settling in Germany. In 2003 her household returned to Russia and lived in Nalchik, Kabardino-Balkaria. In 2010, she enrolled within the Kabardino-Balkarian State University and studied below the acclaimed movie director Aleksandr Sokurov. She at the moment lives and works in Germany.
The movie is produced by Ilya Stewart’s Hype Studios in co-production with the Sokurov fund and in affiliation with Totem Films. The filmmakers will donate 50% of all proceeds to Human Rights Watch.
Musaeva mentioned: “The experiences of my characters are very acquainted to me, and I can relate to them. In the method of creating the movie, I realised that to some extent I personally am the protagonist. The undeniable fact that that is the primary time a movie within the Chechen language might be proven at an occasion of this magnitude makes it much more essential for me personally.”
Stewart mentioned: “Alexander Sokurov is single-handedly answerable for introducing the world to a technology of gifted and fearless voices. As a graduate of his acclaimed movie faculty, Malika carries Sokurov’s values and traditions with grace and dignity. Her characteristic movie debut is a novel exploration of the worth of freedom and a strong cinematic expertise, closely impressed by her personal circumstances and encounters.”
Totem Films mentioned in a press release: “Malika’s cinema is a mix of portray and quiet rage. We are so proud to accompany her first worldwide steps. It’s uncommon to come across such a robust cinema gesture.”
Hype Studios’ upcoming initiatives embrace new options by Kirill Serebrennikov, Malgorzata Szumowska and Egor Abramenko.
Totem’s current titles embrace a brace of 2023 Sundance winners – Sofia Alaoui’s “Animalia” and Marija Kavtaradze’s “Slow.”
