Five-year-old Vitka and her teenage cousin Larysa both yearn for a life beyond the archaic rules and restricting confines of their small, godforsaken Ukrainian village. Despite her family's staunch objections, Larysa falls wildly in love with Scar, a handsome ex-convict. Hoping to leave their troubled past behind, the two plot their escape. Scar agrees to take on a criminal job in the city. Larysa, meanwhile, fends off an arranged marriage and awaits his return.

The acclaimed first feature from Ukraine director Marysia Nikitiuk, WHEN THE TREES FALL had its world premiere at the Panorama section of the Berlinale, where The Hollywood Reporter hailed it as a debut “bursting with audacity, flair and energetic promise... punctuated with steamy sex, brutal violence and flights of enigmatic, extravagant fantasy.”

DIRECTED BY MARYSIA NIKITIUK
UKRAINE, POLAND, MACEDONIA | 2018 | UKRAINIAN WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES