Unclenching the Fists

In an industrial town in the Northern Caucasus, Ada, one of the many victims of the 2004 school siege in Beslan carried out by Chechens demanding Russia's withdrawal from their country, is kept under the excessive control of her father Zaur (Alik Karaev).

Still recovering from the trauma of the attack, Ada struggles to escape the stifling grip of the family she both loves and rejects, even if it means marrying Tamik (Arsen Khetagurov), a hometown loser, or fleeing on the back of her older brother Akim’s motorcycle.

Unclenching The Fists, Kira Kovalenko's second feature film, won the Un Certain Regard prize at Cannes Film Festival.