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Dans, Grozny dans (The Damned and Sacred)
'Nobody is in shape and nobody's costume fits.' The dancing coach dejectedly addresses his Chechen youth dance group Daymokhk. 'We will have to fight. It is our mission to show the world that we are normal.' After this pep talk, the war-branded young dancers go on a tour in an old bus, from the shattered capital of Grozny in Chechnya to the prosperous cities of Amsterdam and London. The children prove that they exist; they dance superbly. Backstage, they tell filmmaker Jos de Putter about their lives and war experiences. 'I remember, but am unable to talk about it.' De Putter alternates their stories with images of their devastated fatherland. Dans, Grozny dans (The Damned and the Sacred) demonstrates the fragility of these children's lives.
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