“Alexandra presents war for what it is: brutal, crushing, and ugly.” - VarietyFilmmaker Alexander Sokurov (The Sun at MIFF 06, Russian Ark) casts an austere gaze over war-torn Chechnya with this simple tale of a woman who visits her grandson at his army base. Starring octogenarian Galina Vishnevskaya, “a former opera star who brings a regal bearing to this potato-fed lump of a babushka” (Village Voice), Alexandra's simple narrative is an opportunity for Sokurov to pit feminine intuition and empathy against the machine of war. There are no military battles in this film, the struggles are more to do with with the human need for emotion and tenderness. Shot in striking monochrome, Alexandra evokes the inevitable drain of humanity in war - in Chechnya or anywhere for that matter.