Mikhail Kosyrev-Nesterov

The film is divided into two distinct stories with the same setting: the back-stage of the Moscow Operetta theater with the Can-Can metaphor which is a high-energy and physically demanding dance. Human relationships, betrayals, and the relationship between parents and children are the same common denominator found in the two parts of the film.

Maxim is a young Muscovite who journeys from Russia to the south of France to visit his mother in her home amidst the lofty mountains of Montagne Sainte-Victoire. He finds her in poor health and is overwhelmed with grief when she abruptly passes away. In the throes of mourning, he reconnects with his French half-sister Marie Louise, whom he hardly saw. Despite the language barrier and accustomed estrangement, the pair grows closer through their shared sense of loss.

About 30 ethnic groups live in the Republic of Dagestan, each with its own language and customs. The prevalence of the Muslim way of life is a distinctive feature of this republic. The number of men taking second and third wives has increased. However, according to the Constitution of the Russian Federation, a man can only be married to one wife. So, being both a law-abiding citizen and a model Muslim is not yet possible.

In a small Cuban fishing village, Joel, the oldest brother in a traditional family, is heartbroken when his fiancée marries someone her family prefers. He moves to Havana, hoping to find a new life. Gorgeously photogenic, Havana and the Cuban countryside are exquisitely captured in director Kosyrev-Nesterov's elegiac feature debut.