Directed by Maryna Vroda, drama, 114 min, eng subtitles, 16+
Written by Maryna Vroda, Kirill Schuvalov
With Oleksandr Maksiakov, Nina Antonova, Oleg Primogenov, Radmila Schegoleva
Anatoliy returns home to take care of his dying mother. His home village lies in the middle of a wintry, bleak, inhospitable landscape. Time has stopped here, there is no mobile phone signal, and the villagers are poor and old. Because of her fading memory, Anatoliy´s mother soon no longer recognises her son. Anatoliy is trying to reach his brother, convince him of the urgency of a visit. Familiar places make him reminisce. Then, his mother tells him of a treasure…
Slow, meditative, beautiful in its austerity and blending fiction and documentary, this is a personal look at a dying part of northeastern Ukraine, as well as a moving story about revisiting the past and attending to people and things in a vanishing world.
Awards
Locarno FF 2023 (Best Director, FIPRESCI Prize)
With the support of the Ukrainian Embassy in Brussels