Published: July 08, 2023| 05:35 PM

“If you don’t like my film, that’s fine. Everyone here might see a different story, yet I wish the film stays in your mind” director Rolf de Heer welcomed the audience at the Čas Cinema. The acclaimed filmmaker, author of films such as Charlie’s Country (KVIFF 2013), Dr. Plonk and Ten Canoes, presented his new film The Survival of Kindness to KVIFF. The heavy yet highly imaginative parable about segregation and racism set in Australia won the Critics’ Choice Award at this year’s Berlinale. The story follows a black woman who is imprisoned by her white oppressors in a metal cage in the middle of a desert. Leaving the cage is only the beginning of her cruel odyssey.

“The film was made at the time of the pandemic and the Black Lives Matter movement. While these topics are not the point of the film, they left a deep mark on it,” the director explained the background to the audience. A Congolese emigrant, non-actress, portrays the main character. “This was the first time she got away from home, moreover among white people only,” de Heer revealed during the discussion. The film was screened at the KVIFF Horizons section.