Faith

In the unforgiving grip of a Soviet-era Eastern European countryside, Kazimiero and his wife, Aldas, endure a life squeezed dry by both politics and nature. The sun, an enormous flame, scorches the coppery soil, leaving their maize fields to wither and their simple wooden home exposed. For Kazimiero, the constant labor for the collective—and the oppressive weight of a corrupt ideology—is only relieved by the hope he places in a cross of blessed palm, his desperate plea for rain.

But when the heavens finally respond, the answer is not a blessing, but a cataclysm. A tempest of biblical fury descends, leaving devastation in its wake and shattering Kazimiero's senses in a single, devastating lightning strike. Trapped in a silent, tenebrous abyss, he clings to faith, while Aldas takes in a young stray to fill the silence.

Twenty-one years later, the cruel cycle of nature and tragedy completes its turn. When his prayers are finally answered, Kazimiero is confronted with the ultimate question: What good is a miracle when everything you fought for has been lost?