<em>Steps in Silence</em>

In Steps in Silence (2026), demining becomes less an act of heroism than one of repetition, patience, and learned routine, as Fariz Ahmadov follows an all-female team as they clear the soil of postwar Karabakh.

Mountainous Black Garden

Known historically as the «mountainous black garden», the Azerbaijani Karabakh region’s name perfectly captures a terrain that transitions from dark, shadowy forests to blooming, vibrant meadows. The lowlands’ dry steppes and the highland plateaus give way to open, golden grasslands. There, under the blue sky and the gentle sunshine, groups of skilled workers methodically search every inch of their homeland’s soil. Karabakh is one of the most heavily landmine-contaminated areas in the world.

Karabakh is one of the most heavily landmine-contaminated areas in the world.

In Steps in Silence, a Polish-Azerbaijani co-production premiering in the National Competition at the 2026 Kraków Film Festival, Fariz Ahmadov turns his lens on a demining team composed entirely of women. The camera follows them throughout both their work and daily home routines. They make it seem easy, as if every move wasn’t a matter of life and death. While cooking together, they joke that working in the kitchen is much harder than clearing unexploded ordnance, because it requires more time and patience. Being a mother is «the most difficult task for a woman», they say, though. «If she overcomes that, why can’t she detect mines?»

As we watch them move inch by inch with archaeological precision, lulled by the sound of metal detectors entwined with the silence, a sombre juxtaposition gradually emerges. Ahmadov’s skilful deception lies not only in the repetitive nature of these women’s regular workdays but also in the language they use. They speak of closing lines, holidays, and half-days. Of workplaces and careers. In a conversation with a friend, one of the deminers says she doesn’t think about family as she’s more «career focused» for now. Yet it’s not a corporate job, but a striking normalcy – the one that had to be learned.

Three decades

As such, their work is to reclaim their homeland – and perhaps themselves against the backdrop of post-conflict reconstruction. It will take 30 years to demine the region, they say. Given that no more mines and UXOs are planted. Are they scared, given it’s a high-risk job? Not really. A kind of insensitivity becomes part of daily reality at some point, too. However, Ahmadov’s film is never such. The care for its subject – and, in extension, for the country too – is subtle yet powerful, with its greatest strength being the sound design (by Franciszek Kozłowski). The silence is truly serene, highlighted by the scarce soundtrack, used only at the very end and when some archival footage is shown. Yet the very calmness that gives the film its power can also create a certain emotional distance.

Still, Ahmadov could easily fall into the trap of big words and bold statements about femininity in a post-conflict landscape. He doesn’t. Steps in Silence is quiet. «Neat and elegant», to borrow the way the women deminers describe their work. Rather than dramatising courage, Ahmadov observes the careful discipline through which risk becomes inhabitable. It just happens that these women’s decision to play their part in rebuilding a peaceful, safe land feels entirely natural. One grid at a time.