Zoete rook van het vaderland

Three old people from very different European locales - Catalonia, Lithuania and Abkhazia - saw wars come and go. They chose to keep aloof, cultivate the soil and clean up the mess. Archive footage of war and resistance, from Franco’s Spain to partisans in the Lithuanian woods, interlace the portraits of the protagonists. They are poor and live isolated in the places where they, and often their parents, were born, while their children and all fellow villagers have migrated to the city years ago. This makes the film not only a story about war, but also about old age and loneliness. The director, who comes from the Soviet Union and fled to the Netherlands shortly before the Wall collapsed, has always been fascinated by people who resist their oppressors. With this film, she takes a new turn.