Nous, les enfants du xxème siècle

In 1990, Russian director Vitali Kanevski caused an international furore with his feature film Freeze, Die and Arise!, about two young children who have to manage growing up in the repressive fifties in Siberia. An Independent Life was the sequel to this movie, which again demonstrated that Kanevski takes children's social problems very much to heart. This interest has an autobiographical ground, because Kanevski spent part of his childhood years in prison. In Nous les enfants des XXème siècle Kanevski once more sticks to his subject. The documentary gives the floor to youngsters who have been convicted for murder. Kanevski is interested not so much in individual murder cases, but rather in social factors. These elements are a breeding ground that brings youngsters to murder. Kanevski thinks that "modern life, with its civilised indifference" bears the greatest responsibility for the derailment of youngsters. He points out the analogy between deserted animals and children who have been abandoned by their parents: both are lost. Kanevski: "The film is a portrait gallery that represents and poses questions about the society of the future." (International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam)