Days of Youth
The Sakhalin Island, lying 8000 kilometers east of Moscow in the North Pacific Ocean, receives state support to host an annual summer camp to train regional children in patriotism, armed combat, and the Russian Orthodox tradition. In Summer 2015, the campers took part in a historical re-enactment commemorating the 70th anniversary of WWII. The film follows the children in their daily training and through their final performance, recording their experiences, hopes, and dreams.
Yulia Lokshina was born in Moscow in 1986, and moved to Germany in her early teens. Along with culture and language studies, Lokshina has worked on various theatre and film projects, and curated a short film festival “CrankCookie”. In 2011 she shot her first documentary, At Home, on post-soviet immigrants in Israel. She began her studies of documentary directing at the University for Television and Film in Munich in 2011, and was awarded a media program scholarship by the Heinrich Boell Foundation.