Arsenii Markov

Hanging out with friends, smoking a lot, spinning bottles and kissing, making mistakes, playing, refusing to accept, dreaming with open eyes - life as a teenager can be overwhelmingly beautiful and difficult at the same time. In her debut, the Ukrainian director composes a deeply emotional and multi-layered portrait of a generation whilst seamlessly flowing between the fictional and the documental.

After years of estrangement, single parent Arkadiy gets a visit from brother Igor and his son from Odesa. According to Jewish custom, they mourn their recently deceased mother while digging up old conflicts. As the war breaks out in Ukraine, the family is thrown into turmoil, and the brothers must take a closer look at their relationship to their homeland.