The Chamanov Column

It happened in Chechenya. It could have been Yugoslavia, Afghanistan or previously in Vietnam. Wars of liberation and civil wars vary very little from continent to continent. The images of the Chamanov Column were filmed daily by a Russian soldier in the assault forces during his third tour of duty in Chechenya. Unlike the filmmakers, photographers or television directors, he never aestheticises his shots. He is the eye of the soldier, of a man engaged in a civil war he does not understand. Cruelty, barbarism, absurdity, morality, courage, compassion –the whole spectrum of human emotions unfolds though the images and commentary of the soldier-filmmaker. The Chamanov Column is a film about a man in war. Is this really a collection of amateur films made by a soldier in the Chechen campaign? Is it a possibly movie made by a filmmaker drafted to fight as a soldier? Is the director of this work, in the final analysis, just some sort of a collater of several voices which tell the story of a lost war?