A hot summer day. The cherry-tree branches are full of ripe berries, swaying from the wind and weight. A recently retired father invites his son to help him with the cherry picking in the garden. The father is not in a rush, as he now wants to spend more time with his son, leaving the cherries in the background. Working together and staying silent, they both realize how much time they’ve lost during those 30 years. The cherries bring the two men back to their first memories and let them experience them longer, as if to start all over again.

Cherries

A grown-up son goes on a countryside trip with his ageing parents in the hopes of reigniting the relationship, but there is nothing left to reignite. This story of familial dysfunction is set against the picturesque backdrop of a dacha community (instantly recognisable to every post-Soviet native), rendered by Vytautas Katkas with irony and a rare sympathy for his hapless subjects.