>> Catalog 2025

Welded Together

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FRANCE, THE NETHERLANDS, BELGIUM / 2025 / Russian / Color / DCP / 96 min

Director, Script: Anastasiya Miroshnichenko
Photography: Pavel Romanenya
Editing: Kasia Boniecka, Stanislav Kalilaska
Sound Design: Lex Krutz
Sound Mixing: Jan Schermer
Music: Rui Reis Maia
Color grading: Nicolas Duval
Producers: Valerie Montmartin, Raphael Pelissou
Co-producers: Iris Lammertsma, Babet Touw, Anton Iffland Stettner, Eva Kuperman
Production Company: Little Big Story
Co-Production Companies: Witfilm, Stenola Productions
Source: Lightdox, Nevena Milašinović

Katya, who lives in Belarus, lost her father when she was six years old and was later abandoned when her mother became an alcoholic. She grows up and begins working as a welder, reuniting with her mother, and they make an effort to live together once again as family. She matures in her craft and enjoys the fulfillment of being recognized as an equal in a male-dominted workplace. And yet her daily life supporting her mother and taking care of her sister—too young to understand—is filled with hardship and disappointment. Her mother’s drinking habits do not improve, and so Katya places her sister in a child protection facility away from their mother’s influence, leaving home once again. They endure a heartbreaking farewell, but in choosing a new path their sisterly connection grows stronger. (YM)

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[Director’s Statement] The story of Katya and her little sister Amina, who are both victims of their mother’s alcoholism—held hostage to her addiction. As someone who had no childhood, Katya fights to protect her sister from the same fate.

The title is not only a reference to Katya’s profession as a welder who combines separate pieces of metal into a whole, but it is also a metaphor for the unbreakable emotional bond between the two sisters, despite their twenty-year age gap.

This story is personal and universal at the same time. Welded Together is about love that sometimes requires difficult choices and sacrifices. Choosing to make a sacrifice for our loved ones is a sign of true care and love. Maybe these decisions bring us to the path to something more harmonious—in families, in society, and in each of us.

Beyond the main character’s dramatic story, the film offers a glimpse into the country of Belarus, still relatively unknown internationally. Through the environment, people’s lives and interactions, it shows the social and political realities that shape society today. All this speaks volumes about the people who live in the country and, despite everything, value their personal freedom and independence.