Part drama, part thriller, part noir-inflected fairytale, Pamfir is violent, raw and bloody, but also a tender portrait of a family man trying to raise his son well despite his own shady past. Shot in long takes and set amid forests swirling with mist in the run up to the traditional Malanka carnival – a wild pagan festival featuring straw costumes, wooden masks and centuries-old rites and traditions – this is a propulsive, genre-defying debut exploring the thin line between good and evil and fate versus free will in our complex modern world.