Two Boys Who Don’t Drink (2002)

The children of a remote village in the Ivanovo region speak of their home with a matter-of-factness that belies its grim reality: everyone drinks, and most are addicted. Theft and alcohol consumption are commonplace. The villagers accept this as normal, including the presence of two boys abandoned by their alcoholic mother. These boys manage the farm themselves – tending to livestock and repairing the house. What truly sets them apart is their refusal to drink or smoke, a rarity in rural Russia.