Nika

At 27, once-celebrated child poet Nika struggles to redefine herself in a world that has long moved on. Facing her last chance to enter drama school, she sees it as a way to escape the suffocating bond with her mother and reclaim control over her life. A tentative romance with Ivan offers hope, but unresolved memories and emotional scars from her childhood fame threaten to pull her back. Torn between past and future, Nika risks everything to find meaning, love, and a new voice beyond her lost childhood.

It is a biographical drama film inspired by the real life of Soviet child poet Nika Turbina, whose early literary fame stands in stark contrast to her troubled adult life. Rather than celebrating her childhood success, the film explores the emotional aftermath of growing up too fast.

The film had its international premiere at the SXSW Film Festival, where it drew attention for its intimate and restrained portrayal of trauma, creativity, and personal collapse rather than a conventional biopic narrative.

Although the film is rooted in real events, it does not quote Nika Turbina’s original poems directly. Due to rights limitations, the filmmakers chose alternative poetic texts that convey the same emotional intensity and inner turmoil.

The film deliberately centers on Nika’s final chance at self-reinvention, using her attempt to enter drama school as a narrative turning point symbolizing both escape from her mother and the hope of reclaiming her own voice.