The Life Not Lived
Veve travels to her birth town Atbasar in Kazakhstan, 23 years after her resettlement in 1999. She visits the Russian family side, drives through the endless steppe and experiences places that she has known from photographs or her memory. It is not clear what she is looking for but the call of her ancestors, the Volga Germans who were deported during World War II from Russia to Kazakhstan as putative sympathizers of the Nazi regime and the loss of their identity is omnipresent.
- I want to go home but I don't know where my home is.
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Veve KiselevDirector
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Veve KiselevWriterWorship Ain't No Lie
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Veve KiselevProducerWorship Ain't No Lie
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Veve KiselevKey Cast"Veve"
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Veve KiselevCamera
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Oliver FreiländerCameraWorship Ain't No Lie
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Oliver FreiländerCutterWorship Ain't No Lie
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NAINNMusicproductionWorship Ain't No Lie
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Samy EichMastering
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Project Title (Original Language):Das nicht gelebte Leben
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Project Type:Documentary, Music Video, Short, Student
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Genres:Documentary, Short, Musicvideo, student, russiangerman, volgagerman, migartion, resettlement, identity, culture, cultural identity, cultural heritage, kazakhstan, soviet union, world war 2
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Runtime:10 minutes 15 seconds
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Completion Date:April 19, 2024
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Production Budget:17,600 EUR
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Country of Origin:Germany
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Country of Filming:Germany, Kazakhstan, United Kingdom
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Language:English, German, Russian
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Shooting Format:Full HD 1920x1080, 4k, Iphone 11
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Aspect Ratio:16:9
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Film Color:Color
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First-time Filmmaker:Yes
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Student Project:Yes - University of Art & Design Offenbach
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40. Kassel DocfestKassel
Germany
November 16, 2023
14th Hessian University Film Day -
74. BerlinaleBerlin
Germany
February 20, 2024
European Film Market -
Lichter FilmfestFrankfurt
Germany
April 19, 2024
Worldpremiere
Official Selection / Regional Shortfilm -
SEE THE SOUND - Soundtrack CologneCologne
Germany
July 7, 2024
Nordrhein-Westfalen Premiere
Official Selection / Short Film -
Kurzfilmtag at German Filminstitute and Museum DFFFrankfurt
Germany
December 21, 2024
Veve Kiselev is a singer-songwriter, producer and filmmaker who is known for her shortfilm and musicvideo “The Life Not Lived” that was screened amongst others at Berlinale, SEE THE SOUND - Soundtrack Cologne and German Film Institute DFF in 2024. Her musical Alter Ego NAINN plays a central role in her artistic work. Together with the gloomy sound and her striking voice she creates electrifying performances and concerts from the range of psych-rock, grunge to Trip Hop.
She was born in Atbasar, Kazakhstan and immigrated to Germany at the age of five. In 2023 she obtained her diploma degree with high honors in Electronic Media Art (Video, Sound, Performance) and Product Design at HfG Offenbach.
Today she lives in Berlin, working on her debut studio album.
I made a film about where I come from, to realize where I want to go.
The scent of lilac accompanies me through decades. But I don't know why. I feel anxious and lonely. But I don’t know why. And I want to go home but I don’t know where my home is.
The longing for our identity is essential. I was born in a time when store shelfs were half full, people lost their jobs and education facilities began to evanescence – Post Soviet Union in Kazakhstan. As laws of War Reparation Costs were enact in Germany, and departure policy in Post Soviet Union were convenient, our request of immigrating to Germany got approved and we resettled as many Russian-Germans before us since the 1980s. At that time, I was 5 years old. Young enough to start a new life in a new surrounding and old enough to not forget. After years of adapting, trying to fit in and pushing aside my birth culture, I got questions. Uncomfortable ones.
What happened to my ancestors, the Volga-Germans who got deported from Russia to Kazakhstan in World War II?
For the film ‘The Life Not Lived’, I traveled to my birth town Atbasar in Kazakhstan after 23 years since our emigration in 1999.
May 2022 in Atbasar: Lilacs are blooming everywhere in the whole town, spreading their enchanting scent. A feeling of content overcomes me.