Nashi

10,000 Russian boys and girls are preparing themselves for a heroic future. Girls do gymnastics and boys run as though their lives depended on it. They are the chosen ones of Russia: the budding managers and politicians of the country that is destined to become the global leader of the 21 century. They call themselves , or "Our ones," and spend two weeks in lockdown at this summer camp. Red banners and loudspeakers hanging from the dome tents in the woods tell the children what their future will be. Pretty girls are encouraged to let themselves be kissed, it isn't allowed to skip speeches or exercises, alcohol is prohibited, rifles should be well oiled and clothes must be ironed for the visit of the great leader of the movement: Vladimir Putin.
As the only outsider, Daya Cahen was allowed to pitch her tent in the Nashi summer camp for a week, where she witnessed the daily routine. She captured her impressions with two cameras and presents them in a double projection. We see the same scene from two perspectives, which provides depth and a sense of the overpowering radicalising force of Nashi. The images add up. Also, perhaps precisely, when nothing seems to happen, as in the static portraits of seriously indoctrinated teenagers in uniform. Cahen films them in close-up from a low perspective, as heroes, but with every youth, the vulnerability sooner or later shows through the mask.