Michail and Daniel

Script and director Andrei Zagdansky
 

Michail is an artist and he is working on a series of paintings called “Franz Kafka’s Diary”.  His son Daniel is thirty-four and yet his life is hardly separable from the life of his father. He is deaf and mute, and suffers from a severe form of cerebral palsy. Michail is determined and energetic, Daniel – persistent and charismatic. And they are a striking couple. The film offers a detailed observation of two interconnected characters. 

What is your life like if your legs, hands and neck are affected with the crippling pain of cerebral palsy? 

And if you are deaf? 
What is your life like if you are 34 and want to be happy?

What is your life like if your wife dies in a car crash?
If you are a struggling artist?
What is your life like if you alone are raising a handicapped child who cannot talk? 

I’ve known Michail and Daniel over thirty years, even made a short film about them in 1992. 
Back then they were charming, smart and talented. 
Twenty five years later, they still are.  

Making a documentary is often about finding your personal connection, your mysterious affinity, with someone else.  Maybe even your alter ego. Over the course of shooting Michail and Daniel I felt a deep emotional connection to both men. 
They are unique, as is their story. There is, also, something universal in this father and son saga. Andrei Zagdansky