Timofey Dmitrienko

Immortalised as one of the most scintillating and uplifting Christmas songs, 'Carol of the Bells' adapted from a popular and loved Ukrainian folk melody, came to represent the spirit of brotherhood and unity all over the world. The peaceful and neighbourly existence of three families, Polish, Ukrainian and Jewish, sharing a large house, musical evenings and merriment in the city of Stanislaviv in the years preceding and post war, is shattered. First in the Soviet occupation and the persecution of the Polish family, then, by the Nazi occupation of Ukraine, and the decimation of the Jewish family. Sacrificing their lives the Ukrainian family manage to save their neighbours' children and their own daughter. Death and loss come to these families, but the healing power and joy , and a promise that the Future Will Not be Cancelled which "Carol of the Bells' evokes will be everlasting.

The protagonist Andrii Dovzhenko finds out a horrible truth, that has been hidden in USSR for years - most of those accused of «anti-Soviet propaganda» were never sent to prison, but to special psychiatric hospitals with a diagnosis of "slow progressive schizophrenia". Andrii finds himself in a real hell of punitive psychiatry and faces a difficult choice - to cooperate with the KGB and return to his family, or to reveal the truth about dissidents tortured in such psychiatric hospitals. The script was based on the memoirs of Soviet dissidents who faced the brutality of a totalitarian system that used so-called "punitive psychiatry" as a weapon against free thought.

Kolya is 8 years old. He lives in a troubled family: exhausted by his daily routine, his mother abuses alcohol and is prone to nervous breakdowns; stepfather allows himself domestic violence. In addition to Kolya’s family, he has a friend, Misha, and their common hiding place – a field where you can hang out and lie in the fragrant grass, dream of another life and make wishes while planes land nearby. Kolya’s main dream is that his mother would stop drinking.

Valeria works at an art gallery and is raising her son, Sam, alone. One day, near the gallery, Sam is hit by a car. The driver was the eldest son of Valeria’s boss, who dies in the accident. Although Sam initially appears unharmed, he is diagnosed with heart failure. Seeking financial assistance, Valeria turns to her boss, who blames Sam for his son’s death and begins to blackmail Valeria.