2026 Taiwan International Ethnographic Film Festival Tour — Tokyo Screening: Abode of Dawn

Nowhere × Taiwan International Ethnographic Film Festival Tokyo Screening Vol.2: Abode of Dawn Runtime 105 min | Russian dialogue with Chinese + English subtitles Deep in the Siberian forest in the years after the 1990s, a spiritual leader claiming to be the reincarnation of Jesus founded a religious community, where people left modern society behind to practice another, ideal way of life. Filmed over nine years, *Abode of Dawn* offers an intimate record of the believers' contradictions and wavering between faith, family, and freedom. Rather than rushing to judgment, the director keeps long, patient company with her subjects, watching how a closed community gradually loosens amid changing times. As the world keeps falling apart, why do people still long for community? And is the so-called "ideal home" a refuge, or merely another kind of predicament? Director Kristina Shtubert was born in southern Austria. She first studied psychology in Moscow before turning to filmmaking, working as an assistant director and editor. In 2020, her short film *Elisa* toured numerous international festivals; *Abode of Dawn*, completed over many years, is her major feature-length documentary, selected for the 2025 CPH:DOX Copenhagen International Documentary Film Festival and Visions du Réel in Switzerland.