Melody for a Street Organ

A young brother and sister, half-siblings who have recently lost their mother, are about to be separated to different orphanages. Unable to bear the thought of being apart, they escape into Kyiv in search of their long-lost fathers. It’s Christmas Eve, and the city has been transformed into a festive fairground full of caroling, sweet scents, and the prospect of possible miracles. As the children wander through the city, ignored by adults absorbed in their own affairs, they encounter a parade of eccentrics. Departing loosely from Hans Christian Andersen’s A Little Match Girl, Melody for a Street Organ recalls Kira Muratova’s 1983 film Among the Grey Stones in its approach to children, laying bare the director’s deep misanthropy toward a world in which only children and animals might be worthy of compassion. Rights courtesy of Janus Films.