by Jonathan Crow
synopsis
Algerian-born filmmaker Rachid Benhadj directs this bleak drama about the aftermath of wartime rape. Set in an unidentified Balkan nation, the film focuses on ruff, world-weary Kalsan (Vanessa Redgrave), who heads an isolated mountain farm with her 24-year-old soon-to-be-married granddaughter Elena. Their world is turned inside out with the appearance of 10-year-old Mirka (Karim Benhadj), a foreign child looking for his mother. Soon Elena realizes that the child is actually hers, reopening old wounds.
