Directing
Anya is a young woman who seeks to discover something about her absent father figure, but the strained relationship with her mother doesn’t allow for much leeway. When the mother brings home a strange male figure, their relationship only gets worse. Between raves and rituals typical of Buryatia, a republic that, despite being part of Russia, is marked by Siberian culture and traditions, Anya strives to rid herself of the anguish in her body.
Nestled in the misty mountains and woodlands surrounding Lake Baikal, Olejka’s rural Russian orphanage seems like a wholesome enough place for a boy to live. At 9 years old he’s smaller than most of his tough-guy friends and submits both to their teasing and to his uneasy role as the pet of the orphanage’s matron. Dreaming of a home with real parents, his only protector is Clara, a sullen older girl. As the summer wears on, Olejka becomes the center of a desperate tangle of abuse.
