IDFA 2021: Turn Your Body to the Sun (International Competition) | Review
Presented in the International Competition of IDFA 2021, Aliona van der Horst’s Turn Your Body to the Sun is a deeply powerful and touching personal quest tracing the past of a Soviet prisoner of war during and after WW2.
As part of our coverage of IDFA 2021 (International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam), running in Amsterdam from November 17th to 28th, we attended the World Premiere of Turn Your Body to the Sun, directed by Aliona van der Horst. The film is part of the new International Competition. Additionally, it is nominated for both the IDFA Award for Best Dutch Documentary and the Beeld en Geluid IDFA ReFrame Award. And we can understand why…
Turn Your Body to the Sun tells the incredible life story of a Soviet soldier who was captured by the Nazis during WW2. The film introduces us to his daughter Sana, who tries to understand what made him the stern, but tender man she knew as a child. As we follow Sana along her journey through his past, we are drawn into unnerving history. To make it even more powerful, the film aptly centers on one man’s story to depict what millions went through.
By combining the use of present-day footage, archival materials and personal diaries, Van der Horst weaves an intriguing and expertly pieced together story in which we come to understand Sana’s father more and more. Truly resonant within the whole, is the sensitive way in which deeply personal diary entries were narrated throughout the film showing how, through resilience and love, Sana’s father managed to survive the horrors he faced.
In voiceover, Sana sorts through personal possessions of her parents. Through raw, pungent words and descriptions, she tries to make sense of what she learns about her father’s journey.
From the get-go, the director confronts the audience with millions of nameless prisoners of war who were so easily forgotten. Through excruciating footage, she is raising awareness of what these soldiers faced in the cruel and truly inhumane Nazi camps while also pointing out the immense consequences ‘traitors’ faced when returning home. Extra striking are the enormous contradictions between the joy-full and carefree moments and the agonizing circumstances these soldiers faced.
Needless to say, Van der Horst succeeds at transporting us back to the times of WW2 and its aftermath. She constructed a comprehensive report of the path taken by these prisoners of war. With this incredible tribute, the film provides the often-times ignored Soviet prisoners of war with the recognition they were deprived of. At long last, giving them a face and a name to be remembered by.
All in all, Turn Your Body to the Sun is a deeply powerful and touching personal quest tracing the past of a Soviet prisoner of war during and after WW2.
