NOT MY JOB

Has there ever been anyone famous to emerge from Tadzhikistan over the past fifty years? Farrukh can’t remember anyone and is of the opinion that that needs to change tout de suite, preferably with himself as the star and hero of his little homeland, which lies somewhat awkwardly sandwiched between Afghanistan and China. Farrukh dreams of a career as an actor on the big screen, but alas his everyday existence is rough reality and not the stuff of fiction. The young man immigrated to Russia with his parents and brothers, when they could no longer see any future for themselves in Tadzhikistan. Now they live in a glum little wood shack in the urban desert on the edge of Moscow and struggle to make ends meet with odd jobs. Farrukh salvages scrap iron and haggles with the dealers over every single gram. He misses the wife and child he had to leave behind back home. And his biggest dream? So far it’s been limited to a single walk-on part that he ended up arriving too late to play. But then something awful happens – and Farrukh’s search for a better life turns into a permanent nightmare. Situated somewhere between drama and milieu study, this film impresses in particular with its intensely close proximity to its protagonists and its empathy. Denis Shabaev has created a picture of Russia that we are not accustomed to seeing: as a destination that is a surface for the projection of individual longing and a magnet for so many souls hailing from the former Soviet republics.