Between The Lines

2017 - I am travelling to Russia with a German tour group.
I take the diary of Wehrmacht soldier Buff, killed in action in 1942
when he tried to give first aid to a Russian soldier, as my travel reading.
Our itinerary intersects with places where he fought.
I grew up in Russia. My grandmother toiled in Stalin’s camps.
2022 - the conflict that Russia’s attack on Ukraine has triggered in me runs
through the film.
The journey to Russia was characterised by encounters between people
whose parents or grandparents had common experiences - those of the
Second World War.
In brief moments of rapprochement, many questions remain unanswered -
especially about the purpose of war.