“I feel I’m becoming strong, I’m not good yet, but I’m strong and brave.” 12-year-old Anton is spending his summer holidays at the Kaskad military training camp. Like 60 percent of other Russian children he is subjected to the tough exercise regimes at one of the holiday camps that President Putin set up to mould the next generation for the fight against Muslim Chechens. Back home Anton lives with his beloved Babushka. His mother is an alcoholic and lives on the streets. 
SUMMER WITH ANTON draws a tender and yet painful portrait of a young soul being transformed into a soldier. It is clear that where society has hit rock bottom the Russian state is amassing its troops. Dunja Bialas