Olga Nozhkina

David Motuzka, demobilized Red Army soldier, returns to his native village, hoping to see the changes caused by the revolutionary events. But he cannot see no improvement. The village is ruled by the kulaks and David's childhood friend Kornii Matiukha helps them.

This film is a romantic story of love between a Hutsul girl and wounded Soviet guerrilla Andrii whom she rescues from certain death. The events unfold against the backdrop of WW2 presented with many obligatory falsehoods of the imperial Russian historiography: heroic Soviet guerrillas, poor and backward Hutsuls, rich Hutsuls betraying their own people and collaborating with the enemy, Ukrainians incapable of their own agency. Crude and mendacious as it is, this ideology is relegated to the narrative background, and the viewer's attention gets quickly captivated by the artistic fortes of the film: riveting stage presence of Kostiantyn Stepankov, Ivan Mykolaichuk, Boryslav Brondukov and the debuting Ivan Havryliuk; gorgeously atmospheric photography of Mykola Kulchytsky, beautiful faces, language, and dress of the Carpathian Ukrainians, and a faithful presentation of Hultsul folk culture devoid of typically condescending Soviet colonial slant.

Based on the story of the same name by Anatoliy Kalinin. A young village woman, Klavdiya Pukhlyakova, the mother of a newborn girl, finds a gypsy boy at the crushed kibitka under the tanks. Having pity on the child, she takes him home and raises him as her own son. 17 years pass. Once in the village appears a lonely gypsy Budulai, who has experienced a lot. He very quickly gained the sympathy of Pukhlyakova's adoptive son. Suspecting that Budulai is the father of her gypsy boy, Klavdiya fears that the peace of the family will be disturbed...

Singer Oksana has lost her beloved in the war. Everyone thinks he perished, but actually he was taken prisoner, then ran away, hid, fell into American hands, and… Finally, he returns to his village, and meets Oksana. —Yerevan International Film Festival