A House Made of Splinters (Будинок зі скалок)

Good morning, little ones. Did you sleep well?

And here's another little cutie pie. Maksim...

Good morning, sweetheart.

You woke up with the sun. It's time to get up now.

High five! Are you awake already?

Gimme your ear.

Are you awake? Are you the chief sleepyhead?

Zhenya, I know I need water to get you out of bed.

Good morning. I came to wake you up, you beautiful little thing.

Mrs. Irina! - That's me. You know how I wake you up.

Yulia... ready to wake up?

Such good girls! You're up! - I'm awake.

Wonderful, girls. Get dressed quickly, and come out for our morning exercises.

Good morning, everyone!

Seryozha, reach for the sun!

One, two, three, four... One, two, three, four...

The beetle came back to life.

Well done, everyone.

Here comes the locomotive: "Choo choo!"

Push hard with both legs. One...

Push against me, Maksim. ...two... one, two...

Wave your legs in the air, like a tree in the wind.

Now let's skip rope. One, two, three, four...

Well done!

The number you have dialed cannot be reached.

Please send a text or dial again later.

Yes.

Hi, Granny. - Hello.

How are you? - I'm good. All is good.

And how are you, dear? - I'm fine. Is Mom drinking again?

I haven't seen her, Eva.

I haven't heard from her for the past three days.

I called her, but she doesn't answer.

She doesn't pick up? - That means she's drunk again, right?

Damn it! I need to get over there.

Okay, goodbye. - Bye bye.

See you.

...the termination of parental rights, which will be enforced...

We must terminate their parental rights,

because a real orphanage isn't the best option for her.

She deserves a good foster family, right? She deserves to live with a good family.

Well, yes. As I said, we'll try.

Okay. Thank you. I'll be waiting for your call. Goodbye.

Here in Eastern Ukraine,

people still feel the echo of war.

Life has always been hard here,

but the war made things even worse.

So many people lost their jobs.

Now, every tenth door hides a broken family.

When a family is broken due to alcoholism, violence, or homelessness,

the social worker brings the children here,

to our shelter.

The number you have dialed cannot be reached...

Send SMS...

What's your mom doing? - Drinking.

You miss her, don't you?

I want her to stop drinking, so we can start all over again.

It can really happen.

The last time, she was sober for five, or maybe three months.

These things do happen. - Last year, she managed to change.

Do you hope that it will happen again this year?

Yes.

Your mother is a good person. Drinking is her only flaw, right?

Eva is here for the second time.

This shelter is a temporary solution.

Kids can stay here for up to nine months,

while their cases are processed by the court.

During this time, we provide them with a warm bed and six meals a day...

and we make sure that they go to school.

Let's start with the hands.

One, two, three... One, two, three...

Then like this. Watch: One, two, three...

Is everybody ready?

All the men keep their eyes on the dance floor,

While I dance there proudly, alone.

I play on the edge. You caused me pain again.

I know that it is all my fault.

My body and soul are swollen. That's how much I'm infected by you,

So that now I have a fever again.

The tracks at this disco last no more than a minute,

and I'm starting to forget about you.

I tune in to a sad dance and set our love free.

This is the only place I'll dance through my pain.

Just like inside an enormous web,

I can scatter my memories of you.

The gossip in the neighborhood is that I'm your girlfriend. It's bullshit.

I love you. I love you so much... Please, love me back.

Eva is blushing.

Look how nicely we prepared everything for them.

Girls, girls...

Girls...

Dear Mom!

Dear Mom!

Don't be scared.

Boys, go to your room. There's a...

Well?... - Just don't read it out loud, please.

This is for you. - So?

- Dudnik, Yulia is in love with you. - I don't love anyone!

I'm such an idiot!

Is it dark? - I'll just shut it.

Okay, switch it on.

Boys, imagine that someone is under our bed now!

No one's there. - Imagine it!

What if he crawls out? Imagine that he kills you at night!

Once... This is the scariest story. My dad went on a binge once.

Whenever he drinks too much, he beats my mom or...

... he beats me.

Once, when I was little, my mom got paid that day.

He'd been drinking a lot and said he wanted to pick a fight with her,

so he stabbed her in the chest! - With a knife?

Yes.

Was there a lot of blood? - Yeah, a whole pool of blood.

She started gasping and fell down crying, that poor thing!

Five years later, he asked for a pardon and was released.

He went down on his knees, begging her to forgive him.

When she did, he bought a bottle of champagne

and a cake. He got drunk again that very same day.

Drunk dads are all crazy, and he's always drunk.

Nasty! - Yeah.

I have a story about my dad too... He also got drunk...

Eva has been here for nine months already.

If the court deprives her mother of her parental rights,

Eva will be sent to an orphanage.

Oh, my God! Oh, my God! That's really something. Oh, my!

We still have a chance

to find a relative or foster family willing to adopt her.

Our last hope is

that Eva's grandmother can become her guardian.

Hello. - Hello.

Hi. - Hi, sweetie.

So, how are things? - I met a young man.

A young man?

Only 31 years old.

That's way too young for you, Mom!

Eva, I feel bad when I'm alone.

I feel bad when I'm alone, too.

My daughter, let's make things like they were before.

How?

I'll find a job, and everything will be fine at home.

I want you to come back to me.

Run away from there, and come back to me!

Are you crazy? - Just run away.

If Dad was still alive, this never would have happened.

Stop it!

Eva, don't start.

Eva, daughter, why must you drive me to my grave?

What about me, crying here by myself?

I'm all alone. No one comes to see me.

What would you prefer: living with Mom, or with Grandma?

Grandma. - With Grandma, right?

Because Mom hasn't changed. - No, she hasn't changed at all.

This is how it works: There will be a preliminary court hearing.

Your mom will be summoned.

I think she already received a paper. - Yes, a subpoena.

But she was too lazy to go to the post office to get it.

Too lazy to pick up the subpoena?

I see.

She's not getting her act together. She doesn't want to change at all...

...won't get back on her feet.

You called your father, right? - Yes.

He'll come.

But he already missed multiple visits,

so tomorrow, you're going to the orphanage.

Which one? - Kremenskoye.

Listen to me. How many times did you call your dad this week?

I don't know. - Once or twice?

Two or three times. - Two or three times,

and your father didn't visit you? - No.

I understand. But please tell me, do you know

if Eva Majinskas's grandmother went to see social services?

Did you have the hearing on the termination of parental rights?

I want to stress that time is running out,

and we have a grandmother, who does come visit her.

It's being processed... - Yes, I know.

Okay, so we might hear more tomorrow? - Yes.

Mrs. Marharyta. - Come in.

Do you remember our talk yesterday?

We talked about Grandma. - Yes.

I'll pin my hair up... - I keep trying to fix your bangs.

Yes, I'll pin it up. - Good.

Today, I called Mrs. Anjelika from Social Services.

I have some good news for you.

Grandma will take you back home tomorrow. Everything worked out.

She'll come get me tomorrow? - Yes, tomorrow. It will all be fine.

Everything will be perfect. - I had a feeling that might happen.

Grandma appeared in my dream last night.

I'm shivering, I can't...

Everything is fine. Everything is fine.

Is it true? - Yes, it's true. I wouldn't lie to you.

I'm so happy I could die!

Do you know when you're leaving? - At around 1 p.m.

Close your eyes! - And open my mouth?

No, and open your eyes now. This is for you!

Wow! Thank you.

Oh, Eva. - Yes.

You made me blush... Thank you.

The bear will look after you.

Are you nervous? - Yes.

Just remember that you can call anytime, day or night.

Do you hear me? - Yes.