Impact Days Catalogue
By Malika Musaeva

The Cage is Looking for a Bird

Kletka ishet ptitsu

This first film by young director Malika Musaeva, a student of Alexander Sokourov, is a visual and narrative piece that delicately explores the issues of patriarchy and female emancipation in a Chechnya still scarred by war. In a small village in the Chechen countryside, women are fighting for their emancipation and to defend their right to freedom. Among them, Yakha and Madina, two teenage girls, take comfort in their cherished friendship as they ponder their uncertain future. These young girls dream of liberating themselves from their cages and choosing their own destiny. Made exclusively with non-professional actors from the region, this is also the first Chechen-language film to be shown internationally.

This film received the Grand Fiction Prize at the FIFDH 2024.

Section : Competition - Fiction
Country : France, Russia
Original language : Chechen
Subtitles : French, English
Director
Malika Musaeva
Producers
Hype Studios
sokurov.fund
Writer
Malika Musaeva
Casting
Khadizha Bataeva
Madina Akkieva
Fatima Elzhurkaeva
Rita Merzhoeva
Magomed Alhastov
Muhammad Bataev
Khamila Isaeva
Photography
Dmitriy Nagovskiy
Editing
Vincent Deyveaux
Malika Musaeva
Music
Murat Kabardokov
Sound
Ivan Gusakov
World Sales
Totem Films
Duration
87’