Seven Passages

Adaptation of a tale of life of a teenage Yorkshire farm boy.

One evening, after arguing with his wife, 15-year-old Cheyenne's father disappears. The teenager asks her mother about it, who initially talks about a heart attack then contradicts herself by claiming he left with a mistress. Cheyenne is convinced something bad has happened to her father.

An old man of ninety-three who has been a barber for more than 80 years. He quietly lives on his own in the old areas of Peking which he gradually sees disappearing. Despite his age, he daily rides his bicycle to go and meet his old clients he shaves and plays cards with, while recounting the latest news and common memories. Once back home, he is obsessed with the old clock he owns since his birth, which is always 5 minutes slow. His main hope is that everyone, including himself, could leave this world the way he entered: clean and pure. He knows he may die any moment and peacefully gets ready with dignity, without disturbing anyone.

Life is a garden if it passes in harmony with nature, living creatures including man, king of nature. Asya, a sixteen years old heroine of the film, lived with her sisters in such a garden. To be more exact - in paradise. If she cried, those tears were tears of love to a young man, if she was afraid of thunderstorm or a goblin from her grandmother's fairy tales. In the rest of the time she enjoyed happiness. At down, fascists' planes appeared in the sky and killed Asya. And not only her, but also young children, old men. Asya's love and her future unborn babies, cats and dogs, bees, ants, birds, faith in kindness and the God. But there is hope that man is a reasonable and life-loving human being. And hope must not die with Asya's death. It is just necessary to remind people, that they still have a chance to survive. The film is about it. It is optimistic and tragic at the same time.

A young idealist volunteering in a presidential election learns the meaning of politics while working in the trenches of a corrupt system.