Documentary project · 2020

Letter to Descendants

Russia through children’s eyes

An independent documentary and educational project: a message-film written in children’s faces and voices.

Year: 2020
Type: Documentary, educational
Role: Director, screenwriter, cinematographer
Production: Kinogvardiya · Children’s Creativity House «Fontanka 32» · Youth Center «Sreda»

About the project

A message-film written in children’s voices

«Letter to Descendants» is a message-film «written» in children’s faces and voices rather than ink. Schoolchildren aged 7–18 speak freely about their homeland and the world; every word and every pause carries a child’s emotion.

510 schoolchildren took part in the casting, with interviews lasting 30 to 60 minutes. The subjects include cadets, military-school students, children with disabilities and twins. Through the language of film, a new kind of message to the audience was created.

Fragments

From the project

A frame from «Letter to Descendants»: interview with a participant

A frame from «Letter to Descendants»: a teenager wearing headphones

A frame from «Letter to Descendants»: a girl in a checked shirt

A frame from «Letter to Descendants»: close-up of a participant

A frame from «Letter to Descendants»: a boy in a sweater

Media

Direct speech, unscripted

A documentary interview. A simple studio, even lighting, one question at a time — the camera simply records what really happens: a line, a pause, a glance aside. No prompts, no retakes.

Dozens of individual interviews with schoolchildren aged 7–18 came together into one shared letter: each subject has their own line, but the theme is the same for everyone — what the homeland means to you.