The Song of Others – Films – Visions du Réel

Das Lied der Anderen

Vadim Jendreyko
Switzerland | 2024 | 136 min
World premiere
Languages : English, German, Bosnian, Polish, Greek, French
Subtitles : English, French

What is Europe? Vadim Jendreyko weaves his way across the continent, retracing its tormented history. As the journey unfolds, the legitimate fear of seeing history repeat itself gradually gives way to hope, embodied in the encounters with those who have been able to transform dark legacies into transcendent practices. An urgent and deeply personal cinematic essay.

What is Europe? Are we doomed to repeat the violent tragedies of our history? At the dawn of what seems to be a new "age of extremes", filmmaker Vadim Jendreyko travels the Old Continent and confronts borders past and present, where newly erected walls and barbed wire echo the borders for which many others gave their lives. In this fascinating first-person essay, the director’s documentary approach reveals the layers that forge the territory – memories, myths, geologies, cultures, politics, economies – and goes to meet illustrious characters ranging from Simone Veil to a Norwegian fisherman, from a Greek geologist to a Belgian deminer. It is by defining points of commonality that the Continent is given its full breadth. As the journey unfolds, the fear that History will repeat itself gradually gives way to hope, embodied in encounters with those who have chosen to join the chorus of idealists by learning "the song of others", and transform dark legacies into luminous practices. This cinematic essay carries an urgent, personal message.
Mourad-Anis Moussa

Singing the Song of Others, 2024
Beyond the Obvious, 2018
Die Singende Stadt, 2010
Die Frau mit den 5 Elefanten, 2009
Bashkim, 2002