Yuryev den, (Yuri's Day) (2008)

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A self-centered artist finds her life is turned upside down when one of her loved ones vanishes in this drama from director Kirill Serebrennikov. Lyubov (Ksenyia Rappoport) is a successful opera singer who has decided to leave Russia for Europe; before she leaves, she decides to pay a final visit to… More A self-centered artist finds her life is turned upside down when one of her loved ones vanishes in this drama from director Kirill Serebrennikov. Lyubov (Ksenyia Rappoport) is a successful opera singer who has decided to leave Russia for Europe; before she leaves, she decides to pay a final visit to the small coastal town where she was born, with her twenty-something son Andrei (Roman Shmakov) tagging along. While Andrei maintains a cynical attitude about the trip, it's evident that he would prefer to stay in Russia, while Lyubov is seemingly oblivious to the fact the village has fallen on hard times, and many of the locals seem to resent the presence of the wealthy and successful former resident. Lyubov takes a short nap while visiting the seashore, and when she wakes, Andrei is nowhere to be found. Concern gives way to panic when Lyubov can't find her son and the police tell her there's little they can do; she decides to stay until Andrei is found, and in time Lyubov can hardly be recognized as the sophisticated singer star she once was as she takes up the hard-living ways of her neighbors. Yuri's Day received the grand prize at the 2008 Warsaw Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi