For Ruso, bringing together the right people for this deeply personal film was an act of both care and creative instinct. She sought not just collaborators, but kindred spirits – individuals whose artistic language resonated with her own, and with whom a shared space of trust, imagination, and clarity could emerge. What unfolded was more than a production team; it was a vibrant and generative collective, a constellation of voices that shaped and elevated the film at every stage.

Filmmakers like Olga Chernykh and Dea Tcholokava were not only essential to the process – they became close companions along the way, their presence igniting a dialogue where storytelling deepened and formal boundaries became more fluid. Anna Dziapshipa brought with her a quiet gravity, a sense for memory and identity that infused the project with additional resonance. The cinematographer, Goga Devdariani, has that rare gift: the ability to capture on camera what the director holds in mind – to turn vision into movement, light, and tone. Anyone who has witnessed his work, here or in Taming the Garden, knows the poetry that can live in an image. In the editing process, Derek shaped the material with the hand of a painter, using rhythm, contrast, and silence as if they were brushstrokes – giving the film not just form, but soul.

This was a process marked by trust and reciprocity, where ideas were shared freely and refined collectively. In this space, Ruso was able to translate her inner vision into a film that bears the fingerprints of many, while remaining deeply and unmistakably her own.

For Ruso, bringing together the right people for this deeply personal film was an act of both care and creative instinct. She sought not just collaborators, but kindred spirits – individuals whose artistic language resonated with her own, and with whom a shared space of trust, imagination, and clarity could emerge. What unfolded was more than a production team; it was a vibrant and generative collective, a constellation of voices that shaped and elevated the film at every stage.

Filmmakers like Olga Chernykh and Dea Tcholokava were not only essential to the process – they became close companions along the way, their presence igniting a dialogue where storytelling deepened and formal boundaries became more fluid. Anna Dziapshipa brought with her a quiet gravity, a sense for memory and identity that infused the project with additional resonance. The cinematographer, Goga Devdariani, has that rare gift: the ability to capture on camera what the director holds in mind – to turn vision into movement, light, and tone. Anyone who has witnessed his work, here or in Taming the Garden, knows the poetry that can live in an image. In the editing process, Derek shaped the material with the hand of a painter, using rhythm, contrast, and silence as if they were brushstrokes – giving the film not just form, but soul.

This was a process marked by trust and reciprocity, where ideas were shared freely and refined collectively. In this space, Ruso was able to translate her inner vision into a film that bears the fingerprints of many, while remaining deeply and unmistakably her own.