IMAGE+NATION: MY FATHER IS MY MOTHER’S BROTHER

A queer singer/artist becomes a father to his five-year-old niece when his sister’s mental health deteriorates, and finds himself awkwardly balancing fairy tales and playtime with his nightlife and underground art.

Singer Tolik lays down provocative electro-pop tracks in his sparse loft while single-parenting his five-year-old niece, Katya. He takes food and money to his mentally ill sister, Anya, as often as her obsessive behaviours allow, and faithfully reads Katya her bedtime stories. Beautifully rendered through intimate camerawork, the pseudo-dad’s bond with each of his charges is loving and protective. He’s Katya’s sole source of stability, Anya’s only connection to reality and the lone conduit for their mother-daughter relationship to develop. An award winner for innovation at the Visions du Réel Festival, Vadym Ilkov’s film combines moments of extreme loneliness and familial intimacy with a melodious flow, emptiness and creative concentration, and the great weight and everyday joy of life. A bold, yet subtle and respectful portrait of an extraordinary family that, through its authenticity, brings together both the personal and artistic honesty of its protagonists to create a moving and tender picture.