Plot: When reformed smuggler Pamfir returns home to his village on the Ukrainian border after working abroad for several years, he's determined to earn an honest living and set a good example for his beloved teenage son Nazar. But in a town where corruption runs deep and crime and religion are inextricably linked, his plan is quickly thwarted when Nazar sets fire to the local church in a misguided effort to keep him at home. To pay for the damage, Pamfir must take on one last job for a crime syndicate operating a risky smuggling venture in a place where all the rules have changed. Part drama, part thriller, part noir-inflected fairy tale, Pamfir is violent, raw, and bloody, but also a tender portrait of a family man trying to raise his son well despite his own shady past. Shot in long takes and set amid forests swirling with mist in the run-up to the traditional 'Malanka' carnival--a wild pagan festival featuring straw costumes, wooden masks, and centuries-old rites and traditions--this is a propulsive, genre-defying debut that explores the thin line between good and evil and fate vs free will in our complex modern world.
Alternative Plot: Western Ukraine, on the eve of a traditional carnival. Pamfir returns to his family after months of absence. Their love is so unconditional that when his only child starts a fire in the prayer house, Pamfir has no other choice but to reconnect with his troubled past to repair his son's fault. He will be taken on a risky path with irreversible consequences.
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