This enchanting film about a school for deaf children somewhere in Georgia begins like a fairytale. And that’s how it should be. Sometimes we just need encouraging stories. Like Luka the dreamer’s, who has the temperament of a hurricane confined in the silence of his own body. A boy like Luka would probably be diagnosed as hyper-active and prescribed Ritalin here. In the Georgian back of beyond, however, the teachers say: “He misses his parents.” Or: “Boys will be boys, they have to fight sometimes.”

Georgian filmmaker Mariam Chachia chose a stunningly simple form for her tale of this unlikely place: a girl in a classroom paints pictures to illustrate texts written on the blackboard which describe how Luka feels. Between the chapters we see the school, the children, quarrels, Luka happy and unhappy, a little love story. And the silence. Suddenly all sounds fade out and we hear – a woolly nothing. The world of the children. Luka’s world. Then the sounds return to the screen and we see the dance of those who can’t hear music. Like a revue of the deaf.

Matthias Heeder

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Golden Dove Next Masters Competition 2016;
Nominated for MDR Film Prize 2016