Krasnaya Gorka village

Vera, the last resident of Krasnaya Gorka village clears the road of snow. At night it snows so much that sometimes she cannot leave the house in the morning. Also, in a blizzard, a grocery store cannot reach the village. Once Vera was left without food for a whole week so she had to eat bread crumbs.

Vera

Vera from Krasnaya Gorka prepares tea. It is very cold in her house, so she almost always wears a coat.
Vera has a very difficult fate. She was treated in a psycho-neurological dispensary located in Krasnaya Gorka. After the collapse of the USSR, the dispensary was closed, and Vera was discharged. She married one of the few local men left in the village but her husband died four months after that – he froze in a snowdrift after a feast.

Vera

Archival photograph depicting Vera’s mother Lidiya with her brother Sasha who left to the big city in search for job opportunities. Mother Lidiya had a strong connection with her daughter Vera, she often visited her in the dispensary and sang her traditional Russian songs. Lidiya died in 2012.

Serega

Serega is the last resident of the village of Pukshenga.
He slowly starts drinking his tea and remembering old days. Before the collapse of the Soviet Union, he worked on a farm, looked after horses, which he sees in his dreams every night. Now he rides an old snowmobile, which replaces his beloved horse “Squishy”.

Cemetery in the forest

Yuri from Semyonovo village smokes in a cemetery in the forest, near the grave of his parents. “They’ll bury me here, too!” – the man says.

Reading

Yuri, the only inhabitant of the village of Semyonovo, reads the book in the light of oil lamp. The man really likes detective novels because of the exciting plot that takes him to interesting places.
Yuri was born in Semenovo, but went to work in Murmansk, where he managed to get married, had two children and got divorced. The death of his son completely broke Yuri and he decided to leave for his homeland. The house was abandoned after the passing of his parents. He was restoring it on his own during the last five years.

Snowbath

Sergey from Vonga village takes snow baths almost every morning. He rubs the snow over the body and face, accompanying this process with loud exclamations. “Habits and health are very important in our lifestyle. You can drink, but you should not forget about exercise.” says Sergey.

Andrey

Archival photograph depicting Andrey – the last resident of Bereznik village with his father and brother.
Andrey remembers how his father taught him to fight. After that, he and his brother ran into the fields and fought there until the first blood. Andrey’s brother Oleg died in prison thirty years ago.

Andrey from Bereznik

Andrey is 57 years old. He is the last resident of Bereznik – the small village in the North of Russia in the Arkhangelsk region.
His house smells like an ashtray. Andrey takes a deep puff and scratches his wrinkled cheek. “I was born here; we used to have a big farm, a school, and a club, but nothing left. Everybody died, and everything is covered with snow now.”
Sometimes the postman comes to Andrey, whom the man treats with tea and cookies. It happens they drink together if the postman’s shift is over. When a prison was located near the village, runaway prisoners stopped at Andrey’s. He was happy to host them too.

Naida

Naida is a Husky dog from Vonga village. It plays outside in snow. Only after hearing Naida’s barking, one can understand that ther is life in the village. The dog belongs to Sergey who lives alone in Vonga. Sergey is very afraid for Naida, wolves often come to Vonga and can drag the dog into the forest. This has happened before with Sergey’s former pets. Naida is his only companion and interlocutor.