Déni is trying to find himself. His soul-searching takes him on the traces of his childhood, in the snowy landscapes of Kazakhstan. In an apartment decorated with thick drapes, he encounters his Chechen family and his patriarchal culture. At the mosque, or in the boxing gym, he discovers the closeness of the men of his “clan”. They are all virile and settled in their lives. He is struggling to find his place.
I received a land in Pankissi, Georgia, a valley at the foot of the Caucasus, right by the Chechnyan border, where I was born. In exile, I am thinking of building a house in this remote place, inhabited by descendants of my Chechen clan. But how could I possibly live in such a place?
