A Time For Waiting

Author: Daryna Nikolenko

23.01.19

One of Baku’s oldest buildings is set to be demolished soon.

The building is one of the many affected by the wave of reconstruction that is radically changing the face of the city, and the lives of its residents echo the fortunes of thousands of Azerbaijani families.

Many of the families currently living in the building initially thought of it as temporary shelter, a short-term solution after they lost their homes during the fighting over Nagorno-Karabakh.

Over the years, however, close-knit relationships between the women who live in the building have helped turn it into a home.

Today residents are waiting for the government to reassign them to new housing, and hope to replace the tiny rooms where they have struggled for so long with a new life in new flats.

Filmmaker Daryna Nikolenko documented daily life in the neighborhood during a turbulent period of urban transformation in Baku.

Video Editor: Serafima Skladna.

Journeys, December/January 2018/2019