The Cinematheque

Latvia

“A resonant entry in the hard-knock-life tradition epitomized by The 400 Blows … Will be appreciated by arthouse fans of all ages.”

Alissa Simon, The Hollywood Reporter

Winner of the youth award for best film at the Berlin Film Festival, the feature-film debut of Latvian writer-director Renārs Vimba is an intimate and absorbing portrait of adolescent angst that impresses with its naturalistic visual grammar and a riveting performance by gifted first-timer Elina Vaska. After the death of their father, disaffected 17-year-old Raya (Vaska) and her little brother are placed in the custody of their paternal grandmother Olga, who lives in a small, tucked-away cottage in rural Latvia. When Raya returns home to find Olga dead, she decides to bury the body, keep hush-hush about it, and pursue a tenuous trail that may lead to her estranged mother in London.