U VETRA NET HVOSTA
WIND HAS NO TAIL
Ivan Vlasov, Nikita Stashkevich / Russian Federation / 2024 / 60 min / Colour
Italian premiere
Yamal, in the language spoken by the Nenets nomads means “end of the world.” The Yamal Peninsula lies in the far north of Siberia, overlooking the Kara Sea. Nika is one of the young daughters of a nomadic reindeer-herding family. Soon, with her two sisters, she will have to leave the yurt and the vast tundra to attend a boarding school in the nearest town. A teacher comes to prepare the girls and accompanies them until the moment of separation from their family. With particular photographic sensitivity, the directors capture the landscape’s allure and the intimacy of family life. These girls perform acts deeply connected to their land, such as eating the still-warm liver of a freshly killed reindeer or listening to long fairy tales in the warmth of the yurt before falling asleep. When a helicopter comes to pick them up and take them to the sterile classrooms of a school, the nostalgia for that wind-swept land echoes in their resigned gaze.
Ivan Vlasov
Born and raised in Tula, Russia, he studied at the VGIK Film School in Moscow under Silvio Mirošničenko. His film Edge (2022) won an award at Flahertiana, and Wonderful World (2023) received honors at the Salt of the Earth Documentary Festival.
Nikita Stashkevich
A Russian director, he studied at the State University of Film and Television in St. Petersburg and at VGIK in Moscow. His film Ski Track (2021) won the Laurel Branch Award, while Quartet (2023) earned the Best Debut Award at the Russian Documentary Film Festival.
