Born in the Caucasus, with a background in photography and web series, Kantemir Balagov, a student of Sokourov, has turned the film industry upside down in less than two years. With a tight production, powerful actresses and lighting inspired by Flemish paintings, he immerses us into a Leningrad torn to shreds after the war. Freely inspired by The Unwomanly Face of War, the memoirs of dissident writer Svetlana Alexievich.