Post-Soviet Russian Cinema

"Lilya 4-Ever"

(Sweden, 2003)

Swedish director Lukas Moodysson’s film explores the brutal poverty in Russia's housing projects—the bleak underbelly of its post-Soviet, newly capitalistic facade—and the sexual exploitation that flourishes in such conditions. This is the story of 16-year-old Lilya, forced to survive by any means necessary when her mother abandons her, and her 11-year-old friend Volodya. The two child actors deliver extraordinary performances, and their harrowing story is leavened by their spiritual resiliency against all odds.