Gdzie jest Sonia
Radka Franczak
Poland | 2012 | 50 min
World premiere
Language : Russian
Subtitle : English
Christina has chosen a life that most people do not understand. She has embraced her calling and devoted herself to be a nun in a Russian Orthodox monastery. But she has not retreated from the world. Painting icons, taking care of animals and playing the church’s bells are all part of a daily routine that projects a different outlook on contemporary post-Soviet Union Russia. An unusual portrait of a woman.
Christina has chosen a life that most people do not understand. She has embraced her calling and devoted herself to be a nun in a Russian Orthodox monastery. But she has not retreated from the world. Her monastery is in the midst of a contemporary modern Russian city. Painting icons, taking care of animals, ringing the church’s bells and praying are all part of a daily routine that projects a different outlook on contemporary post-Soviet Union Russia. While the former communist regime tried to eradicate Russian spirituality, nowadays the Orthodox Church has to face a new challenge, that of a world that is merely focused on material gains and values. Facing the aftermath of the crumbling of the Soviet Union, Russian society today seems to be split between its ancestral spirituality and the harsh realities of a post-industrial society that still has to come to terms with the contradictions of a newly-discovered capitalism. Szukając Soni is a film about the transformations within the Russian soul and society that manages to show the simple joys and pleasures of a deeply spiritual life.
Giona A. Nazzaro
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