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When It Blinds, Open Your Eyes

A 2014, 75 min, HD
Mischief Films

Zhanna und Lyosha are survivors. The couple, now in their mid-thirties, became heroin addicts in the turbulent years of upheaval in Russia. They know their days are numbered, and pit their frail zest for life and gallows humor against this fact. The film draws on these moments and offers an intimate portrayal of a fragile and ambivalent love affair.

Trailer

Festivals

Synopsis

Zhanna and Lyosha are survivors.

At the beginning of the 1990s when Russia was in turmoil, they became addicted to heroin. Today, Zhanna and Lyosha are a couple in their mid-thirties living in a cramped apartment in St. Petersburg together with Lyosha’s mother Maria. It seems as if they are able to keep their drug addiction and its consequences under control.

„When It Blinds, Open Your Eyes“ delves into the cosmos of these three characters and observes their daily routine. The couple knows that their time is running out, and they juxtapose their fragile enjoyment of life against their grim sense of humor. The film highlights such moments, thereby becoming an intimate portrait of their brittle and ambivalent relationship.