Irena #1

A sea of subdued, hollow-eyed figures fills the cover of this Dutch-language opening volume, with one young woman in a dark coat standing slightly apart from the crowd — her quiet resolve unmistakable amid the grey, muted tones that David Evrard renders with striking restraint. A small child in a pink headscarf and a little spotted dog weave through the foreground, adding fragile humanity to the overwhelmingly somber scene subtitled "Het getto." Written by Jean-David Morvan and Séverine Tréfouël, this 2022 Silvester release announces itself as a story of courage under crushing circumstances, and the cover alone makes a quietly devastating first impression.