Imago - IFFDAY

Official selection

Travel/Road MovieHuman Rights/Labor/Social

Upon arriving in Pankisi, Georgia, director Déni Oumar Pitsaev is warmly welcomed by relatives. Born in the Chechen Republic in 1986, he has lived a rootless, drifting life, never truly settling down like floating grass. Now, in Pankisi, he longs to begin a new life. Unable to return to his homeland, he plans to build and live in a house near the Chechen border. While his mother hopes he will marry and start a family like a traditional Chechen man, Déni remains fixated on a treehouse, a dream from childhood. For him, this house represents freedom—a life unshackled from war and constraint. In one deeply moving scene, the director reunites with his father after eight years and engages in an open-hearted conversation. Through this moment, we glimpse the true power of documentary film: transformation through genuine communication. The painful, unresolved stories—the emotional scars left by war, the fraught relationship between father and son—unfold against the backdrop of a beautiful landscape rich in the scent of summer. This tranquil land becomes both a place of healing for tangled feelings and a ground of hope for rebuilding family bonds.

Programme note by JUN Jonghyuk