WE MIGHT AS WELL BE DEAD – Director: Natalia Sinelnikova

Director: Natalia Sinelnikova - 2022 - Heartwake, RBB - 96 Min.

The story centers on a tower block on the edge of a forest, but you can tell by the look on the faces of the people hoping to join the building’s community that this must be one of the last bastions of civilisation in a world that has fallen apart. To live here, shielded from a dangerous environment, is the goal. But when the caretaker’s dog disappears, an irrational fear spreads among the residents. Security officer Anna makes an appeal for reason and begins to search for the animal. Meanwhile, her daughter Iris locks herself in the bathroom. She is convinced that, with her “evil eye”, she herself is responsible for the dog’s disappearance. When a newly formed vigilante group demands stricter security measures and a renewed suitability test for the entire community, Anna begins to fear for her right to stay.

“In a displaced reality, the film explores the question of which valves fear seeks in a community, which boundaries are crossed in the process, and how it can change the whole society.” – Natalia Sinelnikova

FESTIVALS:

• 72. Berlinale – Berlin Intl. Film Festival – Opening Film of Perspektive Deutsches Kino (2022)
• Tribeca Festival (2022)
• Melbourne Intl. Film Festival (2022)
• Thessaloniki Film Festival (2022)
• Fantasia Film Festival (2022)
• Sitges – Catalonia Intl. Film Festival (2022)
• Haifa Intl. Film Festival (2022)
• Galway Film Fleadh (2022)
• Lund Fantastic Film Festival (2022)
• Zagreb Film Festival (2022)

AWARDS:

• Prize of German Film Critics – Nomination for Best Debut Feature, Best Screenplay, Best Score
• Gilde Filmpreis – Best Feature (Junges Kino)
• Méliès d’argent Award – Lund Fantastic Film Festival