Nestled in the misty mountains and woodlands surrounding Lake Baikal, Olejka’s rural Russian orphanage seems like a wholesome enough place for a boy to live. At 9 years old he’s smaller than most of his tough-guy friends and submits both to their teasing and to his uneasy role as the pet of the orphanage’s matron. Dreaming of a home with real parents, his only protector is Clara, a sullen older girl. As the summer wears on, Olejka becomes the center of a desperate tangle of abuse.
With its precise cinematography and natural performances, director Diana Mashanova’s debut feature adds a daring and delicately-voiced entry to the cinema of houses of forgotten children, from ZERO FOR CONDUCT to THE TRIBE. A PLACE FAR FROM HOME weaves a potent atmosphere of latent brutality, sweeping its internalized violence to the corners of sunny classrooms and hazy summer vistas.
- Jonathan Kieran
Nestled in the misty mountains and woodlands surrounding Lake Baikal, Olejka’s rural Russian orphanage seems like a wholesome enough place for a boy to live. At 9 years old he’s smaller than most of his tough-guy friends and submits both to their teasing and to his uneasy role as the pet of the orphanage’s matron. Dreaming of a home with real parents, his only protector is Clara, a sullen older girl. As the summer wears on, Olejka becomes the center of a desperate tangle of abuse.
With its precise cinematography and natural performances, director Diana Mashanova’s debut feature adds a daring and delicately-voiced entry to the cinema of houses of forgotten children, from ZERO FOR CONDUCT to THE TRIBE. A PLACE FAR FROM HOME weaves a potent atmosphere of latent brutality, sweeping its internalized violence to the corners of sunny classrooms and hazy summer vistas.
- Jonathan Kieran