Yurev den

Lyuba, a beautiful, sophisticated opera singer, takes a few days off to visit her home town Yuriev, with her son. She left Russia several years before to pursue her international career. Her son, who follows her around the world, reproaches her for not showing enough interest in him and devoting her life only to her art. When they arrive in Yuriev, it proves to be a quite inhospitable place, where time seems to have stopped several decades ago. The locals view these strangers with distrust, fail to answer their questions, making it clear they are not welcome. Before leaving again, mother and son decide to visit a church bell-tower, deeming it the only monument worthy of interest. As they rest on a bench, Lyuba dozes off for a moment, and when she wakes, Andrei has disappeared. She shouts out his name, looks everywhere for him, returns to the church, seeking help from local people who don’t respond. As she cannot find him she decides to move in with a local woman to continue her search. Over the days, Luyba changes: her personality toughens, she no longer wears make-up, and dresses more simply. She even decides to work as a hospital cleaner and takes food to prisoners, taking care of those who are forgotten by her country. Through numerous literary references - characters cite famous Russian authors in their everyday conversations, drawing on the history and culture of their homeland - Yuriev den' features a woman who, after losing her child, becomes a mother to all the orphans, a mother to a country long abandoned. (Festival inforamtion)