In post-Soviet Belarus, unemployed raver Velya dreams of emigrating to the U.S. After purchasing blank letterhead and forging proof of employment to win a much coveted visa, her dream appears within reach… Until Velya realizes the American consulate plans to call the fake phone number on her application to confirm her employment. Velya’s only solution is to endure a week in a small factory town to convince the authorities of her supposed job. She locates the cramped Soviet apartment on the other end of the line, overrun by a family preparing for the wedding of their son. The imperious mother refuses to lie for her, but Velya negotiates a solution: she can answer the phone during business hours as if she works at the factory. But Velya’s presence soon upends both the family’s and the town’s order, with potentially disastrous consequences for all.
Crystal Swan premiered at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival where it opened “East of the West” competition in July 2018. The film won Grand Prix at Odessa International Film Festival, Almaty International Film festival. At Vyborg Window to Europe in Russia, the film won the Best Coproduction Award and Russian Critics Award. Most recently, the film won the Audience Award at Pacific Meridian Film Festival in Vladivostok, Russia. It became an absolute hit in its home country of Belarus, beating box numbers of such audience favorites as Whiplash (dir. Damian Chazelle) and Youth (dir. by Paolo Sorrentino).
Belarus-born award-winning film director Darya Zhuk has been obsessing about filmmaking long enough to see her short films selected to SXSW, Tarkovsky, Oaxaca, Atlanta, Palm Springs, Koroche, Santa Fe Independent film festivals just to name a few. She is a graduate of Columbia University MFA program in Directing. Darya lives and creates between Minsk and Brooklyn. Crystal Swan is her feature debut.
The script was written by a recognized Russian poet, filmmaker and screenwriter Helga Landauer (Olshvang); Darya Zhuk co-wrote the script.
Praise for Crystal Swan:
“the sort of blazing triumph that would hold even the sleepiest festivalgoer in rapt attention”
-- Roger Ebert / Matt Fagerholm
“winningly small, scrappy debut,” “irony-rich, tone-switching script”
-- Variety / Guy Lodge
“Vividly lensed by Brazilian Carolina Costa and featuring an engagingly vital performance by Alina Nassibulina, who evokes Madonna circa Desperately Seeking Susan, this East of the West opener at Karlovy Vary may well have some arthouse legs”
-- Screen Daily / Demetrios Matheou
“Crystal Swan boasts a luminous lead performance from rising Russian screen queen Alina Nasibullina, plus a sparky, sardonic script by Zhuk and Helga Laudauer”
-- The Hollywood Reporter / Stephen Dalton
“so effective at capturing the hopefulness of someone who’s seized by the promise of a better life.” “Zhuk was able to manifest her destiny and make it across the ocean, and her movie offers a compelling glimpse at why that may have been the only choice her country ever gave her”
-- IndieWire / David Erlich
“Confident and vital,” “a clever examination of individual ambition and a thoughtful exploration,” “a brilliant central performance, strong cinematography by Carolina Costa and bold direction by Zhuk”
-- Cineuropa / Laurence Boyce