Thursday, June 13, 2024

MY SWEET LAND (2024) Sheffield Doc/Fest 2024


MY SWEET LAND is a very good film following a boy named Vrej who lives in the Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) region of Armenia. We watch as war  erupts and he is displaced and then returns after Armenia loses the was and his village is annexed.

This is one of a number of films concerning the conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia over the Artsakh region.  It’s a sad tale not being really covered in the west, except in the occasional documentary such as this

This is a bittersweet look at the price of war on our children. Over the course of the film we watch how childhood drifts out of Vrei (watch how the light in his eyes dies) and we realize what is really being lost. We can see how a whole generation is emotionally altered for the worse.

What makes the film stand out for me is that unlike other recent war docs the film is not really focused on the actual war but on the people caught between the warring factions.  We are firmly focused on the people and one small boy in particular and as such we are allowed to really see our future slipping away.

You will be moved.

Recommended

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