Devil’s Instrument

AKMAR, a 17-year-old recent immigrant to Germany and violin prodigy at the renowned Conservatory of Music in Munich, is preparing for a make-or-break recital that will determine his future. Under the relentless pressure of his perfectionist teacher, MS. GALAMIAN, Akmar is pushed to his physical and mental limits. His anxieties, coupled with long-suppressed memories of his traumatic past as a queer teenager in Chechnya, begin to manifest in a self-destructive form - his own shadow, detached from his body, becomes a menacing force bent on controlling him. The more he strives for perfection - and acceptance by an indifferent, unwelcoming German society - the more his self-loathing and fear of failure deepen. On the eve of the recital, Akmar's internal and external struggles erupt in a violent crescendo, leading to tragic and irreversible consequences.