Khrustal

Evelina (electrifying: Alina Nasibullina) is different. Different from the scolding boys on the bus, her patriotic yogi mum, her drunken boyfriend Alik and from the girls who, in the absence of any other prospects in 1996, are only looking for one thing: a man to marry. Evelina's home is not Minsk or Belarus, but house music, and her destination are the clubs in Chicago where the liberating basses were first played. But, to achieve that, she must first get a US visa, and, as is well known, that's not possible without a permanent job. She cleverly masquerades as the manager of a crystal factory from the countryside. Everything seems to work out, but then it turns out that the phone number she gave the US embassy doesn't ring at the factory, but at the home of a chaotic family in the country. Now it's a matter of keeping a watch over this phone and not missing the longed-for call.

Full of clichés and yet never exaggerated, director Darya Zhuk paints the picture of a non-conformist woman, who is ahead of her time. RP