Mariya Kuznetsova

For most Russian orphans, being adopted is a dream. But six-year-old Vanya Solntsev has other hopes after discovering his mother is still alive.

Shot in one fluid take, this visually hypnotic cinematic feat is an ode to the Hermitage Museum in St Petersburg. A marquis guides us through the lavish galleries examining architectural details and paintings, while following a dreamlike plot, and helped by a cast of 867 actors who supply the action of the film.

The USSR, 1957 – a time of hope and genuine belief that the future will be bright. The Soviet satellite is conquering space, and on the Earth, in a little port city, the bright beaming eyes of Konyok and Lara - a naive restaurant cook and his waitress girlfriend - follow the movement of the satellite with hope and excitement. Their romance is disrupted by the appearance of a mysterious stranger, Gherman. He knows for sure that one can not run away from this country. One can only fly. Or swim. When Lara is smitten by Gherman's mysterious cynicism a lover's triangle starts to emerge.