I Won't Come Back (Ya ne vernus)

Each year we try to bring films that, despite their lack of eye-catching stars or high-concept plot devices, are so exquisitely and simply told that they stay with you long after the credits roll. This is one of those films—a profoundly moving story of two girls on a heart-felt journey of mutual survival across a bleakly beautiful Russian landscape. Anya, a grad student who suddenly finds herself on the run from the police, reluctantly gains a young traveling companion in Kristina, an orphaned girl determined to reunite with the only family she has left. For different reasons, both girls cling to the hope of finding Kristina’s long-lost grandmother, who may or may not be waiting at the end of the journey. It all leads to a climax of such sheer poignancy that it will take your breath away.