15:05, 17 July 2021

Kira Kovalenko's film about North Ossetia awarded Grand Prix in Cannes

Kira Kovalenko. Screenshot of the video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sh2Qg2v3L0c

The documentary "Unclenching The Fists", filmed in North Ossetia by Kira Kovalenko, a director from Kabardino-Balkaria, has won the Grand Prix of the "Un Certain Regard" author's film contest at the Cannes Film Festival.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that the "Unclenching The Fists" by Kovalenko, who is a pupil of the famous experimental workshop headed by Alexander Sokurov, triggered controversy in North Ossetia. The director raised the problem of absence of women's freedom in a patriarchal society, which is in demand in the West, but not relevant for North Ossetia, Alik Pukhaev, a blogger, and Diana Sokaeva, a philologist, have pointed out.

The film tells about the family problem and children's departure from excessive parental care.

Instead of the film director, the award was received by Alexander Rodniansky, the producer, because Kira Kovalenko had no time to return to the ceremony.

"Unclenching The Fists" is Kovalenko's second film. She filmed her first one "Sofichka" in 2016 in Abkhazia.

The "Un Certain Regard" is the second most important programme after the main contest of the Cannes Film Festival, the winners of which receive support in the French film screening system.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on July 17, 2021 at 02:12 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.