Andrei Smirnov

Before leaving Russia and moving to Western Europe, famous opera singer Lyuba travels to her hometown to say goodbye and show her teenage son around. But Andrey, Lyuba’s son, disappears and she must stay in the place she hates the most to search for him. A piercing exploration of identity and transformation, against the backdrop of a Russian hinterland, surrounded by Orthodox churches and snow.

This is a remarkably subtle film–a character study that focuses on Mitya’s attempts to cope with each new startling phase of discovery. At first he mourns for his dead wife, but then he discovers that he didn’t really know her.