Imago

The director, with a Chechen background, Déni Oumar Pitsaev, was gifted a plot of land by his mother in Pankisi, Georgia. The valley lies in the mountains near the Chechen border and is home to a community of Chechens who were exiled there during the wars. Pitsaev himself ended up in France, and is now considering settling among his own people in Pankisi. Instead of a traditional house, Pitsaev intends to build a treehouse in the idyllic mountain landscape. Should he go ahead and fulfill this childhood dream, or would it be better to just sell the plot of land?

In Pankisi, Pitsaev faces the unresolved wounds of the community and his own family: his parents divorced when he was young, and his father remarried and abandoned him amidst the chaos of the war. With locals, Pitsaev discusses life in the community: the central role of religion, freedom, and their homeland that lies on the other side of the mountains.

Pitsaev is searching for his place within the community where life is strictly ruled by traditions. As an unmarried man in his forties, he is constantly confronted with questions about settling down. It becomes clear that there is little room here for a lifestyle that deviates from the norm. Pitsaev’s deeply personal observational documentary is a sensitive portrait of life in exile, the sense of belonging, and feeling like an outsider.

Imago was awarded the L’Œil d’or for Best Documentary at the Cannes Film Festival.