Six-year-old Vladlena moves from Crimea to Grozny following her parents' divorce, unaware that war will soon consume her childhood. As the Soviet Union collapses, the Chechen Republic fractures. Her Russian-speaking friends flee while deported Chechens return, reclaiming their homeland. Tensions escalate, and an armed conflict erupts. Violence engulfs the city — neighbors are murdered, her family is targeted, and Grozny becomes a battlefield. After four years of war, her mother is gravely wounded, and an armed attack forces Vladlena to flee, becoming a displaced person in Russia.

When I was born  in the USSR, Crimea, there was a total silence. I was surrounded by silence, and it was uncommon to speak openly about the present. The experience of trauma was transmitted across generations. Violence and fear became inherited patterns, contributing to a continued cycle of harm.

In 1994, having experienced the Soviet regime during my early years. I witnessed the beginning of the first war of occupation launched by the Russian Federation against the Chechen Republic and its people.

While working on the film Memory, I was required to submit a fictional script to the Russian Ministry of Culture in order to receive permission to shoot. This necessity to conceal the project’s true subject became part of the film’s narrative. Both of my homelands—Crimea and the Chechen Republic—remain under occupation.

These are factual circumstances, but they carry human consequences across generations. The film seeks to reflect on how we process such realities: how we deal with inherited violence, and whether it is possible to transform aggression into care, or fear into love.

Memory is a personal attempt to articulate these questions. It documents how I began to step outside the cycle I was born into. This film is also part of a tetralogy based on my life experience.

Despite everything, I continue to believe that art can play a role in recovery. That it can help us imagine a future shaped by choice rather than coercion.

Working on Memory helped me understand how the cycle of violence moves across generations and led me to ask a fundamental question: What can we do to stop it?

Vladlena, the director and protagonist of Memory, is both a storyteller and a survivor. Having lived through the Chechen War — a conflict officially framed by the Russian government as a "counter-terrorist operation" — she spent her formative years (1989–1998) in the Chechen Republic before fleeing to Russia. Her family’s history spans Crimea, her birthplace and her father’s homeland, and Chechnya, her mother’s roots. These regions, now central to ongoing geopolitical tensions, anchor Vladlena’s personal journey of survival and identity. Memory was filmed entirely on location in these regions, giving the documentary an authentic and intimate perspective.

Memory took 8 years to produce and benefited from a Dutch co-production with Amsterdam-based Revolver, supported by the IDFA Bertha Fund Europe and the NL Film Fund. French co-producer Ludovic Henry of Limitless joined the project, helping to secure further funding through the CNC’s Aide au Cinéma du Monde, region Ile-de-France, the Doha Film Institute grant and the support of Pastorale Productions. These collaborations propelled the film to completion, aligning its release with the 30th anniversary of the Chechen War.

Memory had its world premiere as the opening film of Giornate degli Autori (Venice Days) at the 82nd Venice Film Festival in 2025, where it received the People’s Choice Award. It has since screened at major international festivals, including the Sao Paolo IFF, Tallinn Black Nights FF (PÖFF), IDFA, FilmFestival Cottbus (FFC), Göteberg FF and the Viennale, and received numerous awards: Jury Prize at the Marrakech IFF, Best Screenplay at Athens IFF, Best Film at Bergen IFF, and a Special Jury Prize at Valladolid IFF (Seminci). The film was also shortlisted in the documentary section at the European Academy Awards, cementing its presence on the international circuit.

There is also an award-winning short No Nation Without Culture, which promotes the feature.

Filming took place in Chechnya, Crimea and Moscow