Set in the 1930s, Eduard Novikov’s adaptation of Vasily Yakovlev’s short story The Larch that Grew Old with Me follows an elderly couple deep in the Russian taiga. When they find themselves playing host to an unexpected guest one winter — a sacred eagle – they fear its arrival signals ill fortune. With this sparse but moving tale imbued with a deep appreciation for Sakha folklore, beautifully intermingling shamanism and Christianity, Novikov sheds light on an indigenous culture trying to cope with modernity and Soviet rule. The Lord Eagle’s win at the Moscow Film Festival propelled Sakha film into the limelight.