Victim

The snare tightens from all sides in distinctive, heated drama on racism, manipulation, and desperation, where a white lie leads to a situation where all solutions are bad.

When Irina has to temporarily go home to Ukraine from the Czech Republic, where she has been living with her teenage son for a long time, while waiting for a residence permit, her son Igor becomes the victim of a serious assault. The single mother’s fight to find the culprits is kidnapped by both nationalist racists and politicians greedy for votes and publicity. And suddenly Irina and Igor’s future looks bright, with both financial help, and a residence permit within reach, while a Roma guy is accused of the crime. But what really happened to Igor that night in the stairwell? Victim is an intense and precise story about morality and the choice between family and truth, but mostly about a society in free fall, where everything is up to the individual themself.

• Camilla Larsson