THE CAGE IS LOOKING FOR A BIRD Indi Film Fest

Set in a small Chechen village, THE CAGE IS LOOKING FOR A BIRD follows seventeen year old Yakha and her closest friend Madina as they prepare to finish school and imagine lives beyond the boundaries that surround them. Around them, older women negotiate harsher realities. Yakha’s sister Heda seeks a divorce in order to reclaim her autonomy, but the decision threatens her relationship with her young son.

Malika Musaeva is a Chechen filmmaker born in Grozny whose family fled during the Second Chechen War. She studied under Alexander Sokurov and now resides in Germany. That history shapes the film’s perspective. The camera lingers on hills, roads, rooms and faces, creating a sense of openness that contrasts with the social constraints pressing in on the women. Men often exist at the edges of the frame, while female friendships and private conversations form the emotional core. Musaeva avoids sensationalism and instead builds tension through everyday gestures, silences and choices.

The film premiered at the 2023 Berlin International Film Festival in the Encounters section and later won the Fiction Grand Award at the International Film Festival and Forum on Human Rights in Geneva. Its recognition reflects the strength of its human rights focus and its commitment to portraying women’s lives from within their own perspective.