Director: Antti J. Jokinen
Original Title: Puhdistus
Language: Finnish/Estonian

Main Cast: Laura Birn, Amanda Pilke, Peter Franzen, Liisi Tandefelt

This gripping adaptation of the prize-winning novel of the same title by Sofi Oksanen looks at the legacy of Soviet oppression in the Baltic nation of Estonia through a sprawling tale of sex trafficking, abuse and betrayal. Two women from different eras are dogged by their own shameful pasts and the dark, unspoken history that binds them.

It is 1994 and the Soviet Occupation has finally ended. A lonely, secretive, suspicious old lady, Aliide has experienced the horrors of the Stalinist period and the deportation of Estonians to Siberia. One night she finds a disheveled, scantily dressed girl collapsed in her yard. It is Zara, who has just escaped from the iron grip of the Russian mafia who held her as a sex slave.

As the histories of these two women emerge, we witness the culmination of a tragic family drama of rivalry, lust, and loss.

A raw accomplished uncompromising performance from Laura Birn saw her deservedly chosen as a Shooting Star at the Berlinale this year.