White Snail

An award-winning, reality-based drama about an unlikely romantic encounter in a Minsk morgue between two lonely individuals fleeing a totalitarian society.

Masha is 20 and lives with her mother; her father has fled to Poland. She herself hopes for a future as a model in Poland, or perhaps in China. What matters is getting away. Misha is an artist, but his paintings do not fit within the Belarusian norm. His art remains on his own walls while he supports himself with night shifts at the morgue. A heartfelt and intimate friendship develops between these two individuals—two solitaires who do not fit into society—and for the first time they meet a kindred spirit. A powerful debut film in which both actors were awarded in Locarno.

• Freddy Olsson