Nadezhda Zelenova

The story of a son who is secretly in love and a lonely, hard-working father. Each leads his own life – until one sultry summer day, their courses collide with a shock.

Liza is a sophisticated woman who lives in a ‘high class world’. Her husband Peter speaks Russian with a German accent, he owns a chocolate factory. They live in a cold world of minimalistic interiors, holding back their emotions. There are no children in their expensive countryside house but there are expensive greyhound dogs. However, Liza can’t stay stone cold calm, as she has a secret from her past that burns her from inside, one that she would be happy to get rid of forever… And somewhere near there is a burnt room, and teenager Ulya has the keys.

The naïve Maris joins the Wehrmacht during the Nazi occupation of the Baltic states, together with his brother and several others from the village. The barracks are in a monastery, and Maris – whom everyone views as a fool – seems to consider his fate a religious calling. Until his eyes are opened by the soldiers’ misbehaviour, and he takes it upon himself to save a young woman.