Babai

Babai is a night spirit in Slavic folklore, most often evoked by parents trying to intimidate their misbehaving children. Artem Aisagaliev, a Russian-born filmmaker who lives and works in California, uses the context of this tale to create a claustrophobic allegory of fear and trauma, one that is inextricably tied to growing up, particularly within the patriarchal family the teenage brothers Mark and Gesha belong to. Documentary film director Sasha Kulak’s agile camera creates a sense of the documentary transmission of a child’s worldview. Babai, however, is a fictional film, albeit with a free-flowing structure largely built on improvisation.

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