This is one of those rare films that doesn’t penetrate your soul through the eyes but rather seeps in through your skin. It lingers in the inherited silences, it speaks through whispered gestures, it resurfaces in the anguished absences in our own lived experience. With the languid rhythm of a dry wind ascending the steep slope of a volcano to reach its plateau at sunset, and gently cool it for the night, this masterful feature doesn’t attempt to explain feelings. Instead, it gently offers a sense of belonging and, for us in the Capeverdean diaspora, a tableau of memory.
The art group The Party of the Dead was formed in Russia in 2017; its members have created numerous performances, working with the theme of the necropolitics of Putin's regime and his party. In one interview, artist and group member Ivan Zagibly describes the situation in Russia as follows: "Dictatorship does not come instantly; it takes twenty years. First, the media comes under the complete control of the party, then the courts and the legislature; NGOs are shut down; new laws restricting rights are passed; independent internet resources are blocked; the number of political prisoners grows. Most people don't notice this: the economy is growing, salaries are rising, everyone is getting used to it. It's like alcoholism: at first, it becomes normal to drink every day, then for weeks at a time, then to live in short, gloomy intervals between binges.
This is one of those rare films that doesn’t penetrate your soul through the eyes but rather seeps in through your skin. It lingers in the inherited silences, it speaks through whispered gestures, it resurfaces in the anguished absences in our own lived experience. With the languid rhythm of a dry wind ascending the steep slope of a volcano to reach its plateau at sunset, and gently cool it for the night, this masterful feature doesn’t attempt to explain feelings. Instead, it gently offers a sense of belonging and, for us in the Capeverdean diaspora, a tableau of memory. 
The art group The Party of the Dead was formed in Russia in 2017; its members have created numerous performances, working with the theme of the necropolitics of Putin's regime and his party. In one interview, artist and group member Ivan Zagibly describes the situation in Russia as follows: "Dictatorship does not come instantly; it takes twenty years. First, the media comes under the complete control of the party, then the courts and the legislature; NGOs are shut down; new laws restricting rights are passed; independent internet resources are blocked; the number of political prisoners grows. Most people don't notice this: the economy is growing, salaries are rising, everyone is getting used to it. It's like alcoholism: at first, it becomes normal to drink every day, then for weeks at a time, then to live in short, gloomy intervals between binges. 
