Thirteen-year-old Anastasija always makes sure her hair is braided and tries to get used to a strictly ordered life. She longs for a dog and for someone to take care of her. The teenager spends her days in an orphanage together with younger sister Diāna. One day, the Johnson family from America turn up and want to adopt both girls. Ignoring the orphanage director’s advice, Anastasia instead decides to look up her mother who hasn’t come to visit in a while. She hopes with all her heart that her mother’s promises to take care of her and lead a better life together are true.

Linda Olte’s debut feature is an intense and emotionally charged social drama – visually and thematically, it could stand alongside the Dardenne brothers’ best films about the most vulnerable people in society. Moving away from a formulaic coming-of-age story and able to create original characters, the director and her creative team have delved into the psychology of the “children in the system” and do not offer either miraculous solutions or an overwhelmingly negative view. First-time actors Emma Skirmante and Gerda Aljēna bring a rebellious vitality to the screen and fall into a convincing collaboration with experienced actors Iveta Pole, Elita Kļaviņa and others.https://youtu.be/9rrnYfwQv90