Petrograd, 1920. Sofia (the mesmeric Isabelle Huppert) has a single goal: to conceive a child with her husband Trofim. She hopes that, by achieving this, she will finally be able to allay her constant fear that her husband will leave her. Time moves on, no child is forthcoming, and the situation is further complicated by the arrival of a young orphan named Ganka, who becomes a member of the household... The producer of this 1993 adaptation of Yevgeny Zamyatin’s short story is Jérôme Paillard, a unique figure in the film sphere who devoted the last 27 years of his career to the Marché du Film in Cannes. As Executive Director he turned this market into an indispensable part of the film industry worldwide. This year he left this post and it is an honour for KVIFF to organise a tribute to him on the occasion of this significant step.