Unclenching the Fists

Mizur is a small mining town in northern Ossetia, in the Russian part of the Caucasus. For Ada, a young woman who lives with her father Zaur and her brother Dakko, life feels limiting: beyond her job at a small grocery store and the occasional ride with her brother, she is mostly confined at home by her controlling father - for reasons we also discover as the story unfolds. She waits anxiously for the older brother, Akim, to return home, to get a glimpse of his freedom, and maybe escape her life of few prospects. 

With Unclending the Fists, director Kira Kovalenko signs a strong and mature film with a complex female lead at its center. Herself from a nearby city in the Caucasus and working with several non-actors, Kovalenko draws a raw and tender portrait of the youth of North Ossetia. She shows the burdens they bear from past traumas, their deep longing for life, and complex family dynamics. The film was chosen as Russia's entry to the Best International Feature Film category at the Academy Awards in 2022.