Oil-on-glass-animation
2019/ 80min
Direction: Florence Miailhe

"The escape had destroyed our childhood and with it our entire previous lives. I did not know what awaited us on the other side. But Adriel was with me and we had just crossed the last border. I ran and could not hold back my tears. I did not know what I was crying about. My parents, my brothers and sisters and all the people I loved and left behind .... All my life I hoped they would ring at my door, that I would meet them by chance in the street on a corner, that I would receive a letter. You never know, because these things remain uncertain, you never know ... ".

Kyona draws the résumé of her life while she flicks through her sketchbook and tells the story of the end of her childhood. Kyona and her brother Adriel are still almost children when one summer their village Novi Varna is devastated by farmers from the surrounding area and set on fire. From now on they are threatened by persecution and their older siblings are wanted by the police. The family has no choice but to leave Novi Varna. The parents decide to cross the continent to reach a cousin in the Free States. On foot, laden with bundles and surrounded by their children, their journey begins. The realization that they have become migrants comes at the train station, the first stop of their journey. The colorful and heterogeneous crowd that surrounds them is also on the run. The reasons to reach the last border are manifold: natural disasters, consequences of climate change, war, persecution. But everyone knows how dangerous and uncertain the journey is. The family manages to get into the crowded train, but the convoy is stopped at night and the passengers, closely guarded, are taken away. Only Kyona and Adriel escape the raid. Kyona has promised her father to protect her brother and lead him to his cousin's village ...

A co-production of Les Films de l'Arlequin (Paris), Balance Film and MAUR FILM (Prague). Funded by FFA, Mini Traité, MDM, DFFF, ARTE, MDR and Eurimage. The german distributor is Farbfilm, world sales agency is Indi Sales.

Awards und Mentions (Selection):
German Hearing Award ADele 2021
Jury Distinction - Festival d´Animation Annecy
Special Jury Prize Feature Film/ Junior and Youth Category - International Festival Zlin
Best Feature Film - Bucharest
Grand Prix, Special Prize (Diversity Award) and Jury Award - Bucheon Animation Film Festival IFF
Thought Enlightenment Prize of the Prison Jury Regis-Breitingen - DOK Fest Leipzig
Special Mention - Warsaw IFF
Audientia Daniel Langlois Innovation Prize - Festival du Nouveau Cinéma Montreal
Second Prize - Future Film Festival Italy
ICS Special Jury Award - International Cinephile Society