A House Made of Splinters

• Simon Lereng Wilmont
• 86 min
• Denmark, Sweden, Ukraine, Finland
• 2022
• Documentary

Delicate and up-close in a masterful portrayal of the children and life at a special orphanage in eastern Ukraine where the staff do everything they can to create the sense of security missing beyond the walls.

The children’s experiences shine through in their games, such as when they huddle together in a hut of blankets and pillows, telling each other scary stories from reality. Life at the orphanage is a sanctuary, but also temporary. The children arrive there when their addict parents subject them to violence or are incapable of taking care of them, and they are allowed to stay a few months while waiting for a permanent placement or until a foster family adopts them. Simon Lereng Wilmont, most recently awarded in Göteborg for The Distant Barking of Dogs (GFF, 2018), is back with a simultaneously heart-rending and hopeful documentary that portrays a society strongly affected by the nearby war.

- Tobias Åkesson

• Dokumentär
• Barndom
• Samhälle