THE BIRD AND US / LA FRONTIÈRE / BRAGUINO

After the boat, there’s a helicopter ride. It’s the only way to get to Braguino, a lonely village on the Siberian taiga. The number of inhabitants only underlines the remoteness: there are two families, the Braguines and the Kilines. They’re separated by a fence, and they’ve been feuding for years. Only the children, with their tousled blond hair, interact on the lakeshore and on the nearby island. Starting with confidences shared in dark bear-hunting cabins deep in the forest, Clément Cogitore immerses us in the families’ wildly independent life. The vast landscapes clash with the narrowness of territories, the utopian idea of complete freedom with the impossibility of living together. With its foggy atmosphere, dreamy pace and fairytale echoes, Braguino tells us about humans as though they were myths.