The film, set in a north-western industrial town in Russia, reveals the mechanisms that entice human beings to voluntarily become a resource of the state. Can a person ever be free in an imperialist society, where intricate and obscure structures take control of their mind-set from an early age? The film looks at the making of a Russian citizen from a fresh angle. The director's subtle but demanding look reveals ‘the system’ at work in the most benign-looking situations, in all aspects of everyday life. What happens to people's free will and self-determination in such conditions? The film is a Nietzschean treat, asking the core existential question: is a human being ever born free?
Ksenia Okhapkina graduated from the St. Petersburg State University of Film and TV in 2012. Since 2014, Ksenia has been working with the Estonian company Vesilind. Her first documentary produced for Vesilind, Come Back Free, won a special jury prize at IDFA 2016. Immortal, released in 2019, won the best documentary prize at the Karlovy Vary IFF.
Come Back Free (2016), Immortal (2019)
