Between The Lines

2017 – I am travelling to Russia with a German tour group. I take the diary of Wehrmacht soldier Buff, killed in action in 1942 when he tried to give first aid to a Russian soldier, as my travel reading. Our itinerary intersects with places where he fought. I grew up in Russia. My grandmother toiled in Stalin’s camps. 2022 – the conflict that Russia’s attack on Ukraine triggered in me runs through the film. The journey to Russia was characterised by encounters between people whose parents’ or grandparents’ had common experiences – those of the Second World War. In brief moments of rapprochement, many questions remain unanswered – especially about the purpose of war.