The Cage is Looking for a Bird

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.