Tarkowskij und Ich

For years, the same daily ritual has been acted out in a small council flat in Bensheim: an old lady draws her chair up to the window and stares out onto a deserted crossroads. “Our family settled in Germany eight years ago. Each of us adapted as we could to this new life, except for my grandmother. […] She no longer goes out and doesn’t speak German, but comes to life again whenever a Russian film is shown on the television. Bare white walls, a small picture, a chair, an armchair and a television are her everyday life. With her charm and humour, she manages to talk about the saddest things and, gradually, memories and images of the past take shape. Her melancholy then turns into a journey and, on the way, becomes a metaphor of the homeless immigrant.” (Eldar Grigorian)