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.

  • Veve Kiselev
    Director
  • Veve Kiselev
    Writer
    Worship Ain't No Lie
  • Veve Kiselev
    Producer
    Worship Ain't No Lie
  • Veve Kiselev
    Key Cast
    "Veve"
  • Veve Kiselev
    Camera
  • Oliver Freiländer
    Camera
    Worship Ain't No Lie
  • Oliver Freiländer
    Cutter
    Worship Ain't No Lie
  • NAINN
    Musicproduction
    Worship Ain't No Lie
  • Samy Eich
    Mastering
  • Project Title (Original Language):
    Das nicht gelebte Leben
  • Project Type:
    Documentary, Music Video, Short, Student
  • Genres:
    Documentary, Short, Musicvideo, student, russiangerman, volgagerman, migartion, resettlement, identity, culture, cultural identity, cultural heritage, kazakhstan, soviet union, world war 2
  • Runtime:
    10 minutes 15 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    April 19, 2024
  • Production Budget:
    17,600 EUR
  • Country of Origin:
    Germany
  • Country of Filming:
    Germany, Kazakhstan, United Kingdom
  • Language:
    English, German, Russian
  • Shooting Format:
    Full HD 1920x1080, 4k, Iphone 11
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    Yes - University of Art & Design Offenbach
  • 40. Kassel Docfest
    Kassel
    Germany
    November 16, 2023
    14th Hessian University Film Day
  • 74. Berlinale
    Berlin
    Germany
    February 20, 2024
    European Film Market
  • Lichter Filmfest
    Frankfurt
    Germany
    April 19, 2024
    Worldpremiere
    Official Selection / Regional Shortfilm
  • SEE THE SOUND - Soundtrack Cologne
    Cologne
    Germany
    July 7, 2024
    Nordrhein-Westfalen Premiere
    Official Selection / Short Film
  • Kurzfilmtag at German Filminstitute and Museum DFF
    Frankfurt
    Germany
    December 21, 2024
Director Biography - Veve Kiselev

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.

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

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.