“I think I felt I could be interesting to you even if I was normal. Or not?”

As soon as school is over, Sasha’s otherwise relaxed and complicit mother pressures him to enroll at the university. Sasha, however, lives in the moment. Plus he currently wants to hone his graffiti skills with his friend Max. And maybe get to know his father. But then, he meets the dazzling Zhenya. Carried by the light and the ease of the summer in Kaliningrad, they fathom their feelings, talents and fears together. In her sensitive debut, Julia Trofimova tells of young people in today’s Russia who cannot possibly please everyone.

Berlinale 2022, World Premiere
Crystal Bear, Nominated