30. Film Festival della Lessinia
Bosco Chiesanuova (Italia)
23 August - 1 September 2024

The Siberian permafrost is melting. Roman goes on a hunting trip with his younger brother Kyym who has lived in the city for years. The two travel through the immense and wild tundra of Sacha-Yakutia in search of a rare wild reindeer, while also encountering herds of reared reindeer. Not far from them, a scientist, Semyon, dreams of seeing bone remains emerge from the melting ice that contain a viable cell in which to trace the DNA of the mammoth and to one day clone the extinct animal. In a narrative that continually uses and mixes the language of fiction and that of the documentary, to the point of deliberately confusing the viewer, reindeer and mammoth take on a mythical dimension, against the backdrop of the real and inexorable melting of the frozen earth that is upsetting the natural ecosystem of Siberia.

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  Liesbeth De Ceulaer

  Liesbeth De Ceulaer is a Belgian independent filmmaker based in Brussels, whose films explore the tense and complex relationship between man and his environment. These cinematic explorations lead us into captivating worlds, in which documentary and fiction are in continuous exchange. The Best Act on the Isle (2008) and Behind the Redwood Curtain (2013) have been shown in Docville (BE, Jury Prize Best Belgian Documentary), Hot Springs DFF (USA), GIFF (KOR) or Ânûû-rû Âboro. Her feature film Victoria premiered in Berlinale and currently holds 9 festival awards.