A Yakut drama about a schoolgirl who is ready to do anything to save her mother from an abusive husband.
In the 1980s in the Republic of Sakha, Tanya (Yulia Myarina) is a tenth-grade student living with her mother, stepfather, and sisters in a town where everyone knows each other. Her first love, her dreams about the future and the anticipation of the prom are overshadowed by the daily reality of a drunken stepfather beating up her mum. One day, the young protagonist, who is wise beyond her years, decides she can no longer tolerate the abuse.
Tatiana Everstova’s second feature continues the story of little Tanya, which began in her debut His Daughter (2016). In the first film, 6-year-old Tanya was coping with the early death of her beloved father, while in Mama’s Girl she faces the coldness and issues of the grown-up world. This tender and delicate film manages to avoid graphic detail and brutal naturalism. Despite the hardships that Tanya and the other female characters have to face, the main focus in the movie is on how we see the world when we are 16: imperfect, scary, yet beautiful and illuminated with love and hope that will undoubtedly prevail.
The film will be screened in Yakut with Russian subtitles.
Mama’s Girl
Director: Tatiana Everstova
Russia, 2021. 82 min. 18+
