''Ayka'' (russian: Айка) is a 2018

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super ...

directed by

Sergey Dvortsevoy Sergey Vladimirovich Dvortsevoy (born 1962) is a Kazakh filmmaker of Russian origin. His 2008 feature film '' Tulpan'', was Kazakhstan's 2009 Academy Awards official submission to Foreign Language Film category. Dvortsevoy worked as an aviatio ...

. It was selected to compete for the

Palme d'Or The Palme d'Or (; en, Golden Palm) is the highest prize awarded at the Cannes Film Festival. It was introduced in 1955 by the festival's organizing committee. Previously, from 1939 to 1954, the festival's highest prize was the Grand Prix du Fe ...

at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival. At Cannes,

Samal Yeslyamova Samal Ilyaskyzy Yeslyamova ( kk, Самал Ілиясқызы Есләмова, ''Samal Iliiasqyzy Eslämova''; born 1 September 1984) is a Kazakh film actress. She is recognized internationally for starring in the film '' Ayka'' directed by ...

won the award for

Best Actress Best Actress is the name of an award which is presented by various film, television and theatre organisations, festivals, and people's awards to leading actresses in a film, television series, television film or play. The first Best Actress aw ...

. It was selected as the Kazakhstani entry for the

Best Foreign Language Film This is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow film awards, including those presented by various film, festivals, and people's awards. Best Actor/Best Actress *See Best Actor#Film awards, Best Actress#F ...

at the

91st Academy Awards The 91st Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), honored the best films of 2018 and took place on February 24, 2019, at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles. During the ceremony, ...

, making the December shortlist. The film was produced under the working title ''My Little One''.

Plot

The story is centered around a young Kyrgyz woman named Ayka who lives in

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 millio ...

, Russia. After giving birth to a baby, she abandons the newborn, escaping through a hospital window. She is desperate for income, as she owes money to criminals but now struggles to repay the debt. She returns to a job plucking chicken feathers. After the work is done, the men running the operation leave without paying their workers. Trying to regain another previous job, Ayka finds that she has been permanently replaced while in labor. With her work permit expired and pain and complications from the pregnancy, it is nearly impossible for her to find or keep another employment. Ayka finally gets a part-time job as a cleaner at the veterinary clinic. Debt collectors find her and demand she return their money, threatening to torture her sister back in Kyrgyzstan. She confesses to them about the recent birth of a son, saying that she became pregnant as a result of rape. They offer to take her child in order to settle her debts.

Cast

as Ayka * Polina Severnaya as the hospital administrator * Andrey Kolyadov as Victor, the chief

Reception

Critical response

''Ayka'' has an approval rating of 82% on

review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...

website

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

, based on 11 reviews, and an average rating of 6.7/10.

Awards and nominations

Notes

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ayka 2018 drama films 2018 films 2010s Russian-language films Kyrgyz-language films Kazakhstani drama films Russian drama films French drama films German drama films Polish drama films Chinese drama films Films about illegal immigration Films set in Moscow 2010s French films 2010s German films