What if the biggest rebellion is not becoming your mother?
Germany, 2022. A mother, two daughters, a granddaughter, stitched by love, guilt, survival. The Matriarch Wlada (55) runs a German town kitchen with post-Soviet discipline, pushing Nastya (16) past perfect. Then Sasha (33) lands from Moscow with Daria (10): partner arrested, life in a bag.
Sasha wants to stay on her terms: work, permits, proof. The system is rigid, opaque; the flag-burning won’t stand, even with the confession on video. Wlada’s cure is simple and hard: marry her German boss Holger, the butcher. Safety, signed. For Sasha it tastes like surrender. Asylum collapses; pragmatism wins. At a joyless ceremony, nobody but Daria refuses the family’s polite lie.
‚Matröshki‚ is a tragicomic portrait of women caught between countries and beliefs: the fragile art of becoming free.
Feature film, fiction – 100′
Germany
Original title: Matröshki
International title: Matreshki
Cast (selection): Jana Lissovskaia, Varvara Shmykova, Adina Maaß, Sascha Alexander Geršak, Anne Ratte-Polle, Rafael Luis Klein-Hessling, Valery Tscheplanowa, Barbara Colceriu
Screenplay: Alina Yklymova & Lion Durst
Director: Alina Yklymova
Cinematography: Sina Diehl
Costume Design: Stephanie Zurstegge
Production Design: Mareike Rückert
Editors: Lucas Cantera & Marco Rottig
Production: Schiwago Film GmbH
Producers: Martin Lehwald, Simon Grohe
Production: Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg
Producers: Priska Kraft, Sophia Stier, Tim Peters
Commissioning Editor: Stefanie Groß, Jan Berning (SWR) Andrea Hanke (WDR), Erin Högerle (HR)
Supported by: MFG Baden-Württemberg, HessenFilm, YTF Berlin
Status: Post-production (principal photography: Aug–Oct 2025)
contact: mail@alinayklymova.com