Braguino

Two families, The Braguine and Kilines, live in the middle of the Siberian Taiga. They are part of a community called Old Believers, living by their own rules deep in the forest.

“Old Believers” is a sect of the Russian Orthodox Church, dating from the time of the tsars that rejects the authority of the State.

There are no roads leading to where Braguines and Kilines live; you can only reach them by taking a long boat trip along the Yenisei River and then by helicopter.

Braguino is a small village with wooden houses surrounded by the taiga as far as the eye can see. Every year the threat of fire increases, which has intensified with climate change.

In the middle of the village: a fence separates the Braguines from the Kilines. The two feuding families refuse to speak to one another, leading completely self-sufficient lifestyles at the end of the world.

A dozen or so children are growing up together on the islands of the river, escaping their parents’ feud. This is another type of community, one built by children. Free, unpredictable and sometimes violent.

Between the fear of wild animals, fires that consume everything, and the joy provided by the immensity of the forest and its resources, children and adults are somehow trying to live together.

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