Made under the guidance of Alexander Sokurov, the young Russian director Kantemir Balagov’s debut feature examines the ethical dilemma of a Jewish community in the Caucasus.
1998, Nalchik, North Caucasus, Russia. 24-year-old Ilana works in her father’s garage to help him make ends meet. One evening, her extended family and friends gather to celebrate the engagement of her younger brother David. Later that night, the young couple is kidnapped, and a ransom demand delivered. In this close-knit Jewish enclave, involving the police is out of the question. How will the family raise the money to save David? Ilana and her parents, each in their own way, will go as far as necessary, whatever the risks to themselves…
"What interested me was questioning the axiom according to which you have to sacrifice yourself to save a loved one. This is even more so in the Caucasus: it is even the primary axiom. Yet for me, this is a profound question: is it really human to oblige someone to sacrifice himself or herself to save a loved one? This is the starting point from which I explored the characters and the situations." (Kantemir Balagov)
Kantemir Balagov
Born in 1991, in Nalchik, North Caucasus, Russia. First studying economics at Stavropol University, Balagov soon realised that wasn’t his aim in life. He started filming and making web serials in Nalchik. On his friend's advice, he contacted Alexander Sokurov albeit not knowing who he was at the time. Sokurov, who had opened a film school in Nalchik three years earlier, became his mentor and assisted him in filming Closeness.
