Three Women

Tucked in the Carpathian Mountains between Ukraine, Slovakia, and Poland is the remote, sparsely populated village of Stuzhytsia (roughly “cold place” in Ukrainian). A young director and cinematographer come to town and meet three women: the no-nonsense, elderly solo farmer Hanna; the sympathetic, beleaguered postwoman Maria; and the intrepid biologist Nelya. An attentive work of observational cinema quickly develops into something more porous and collaborative when the women’s sense of community and instinct for connection draw the filmmakers in front of the camera. They toast and drink together, they sit for dinner and develop a genial rapport, and the young men even bring Hanna a piglet to adopt. The opposite of a detached portrait, "Three Women" freely engages and communes with the village, capturing the warmth of the place and its people.