My Joy

The truck driver Georgy sets off with a freight-load of flour. On the way, he passes police checkpoints manned by crazy, completely corrupt officers and he gives a lift to a teenage whore who gets furious when he doesn’t want sex with her but only wants to help her. He gets stranded in the labyrinthine countryside, where all the roads seem to be dead ends and is attacked by vagabonds. Man is naturally a wolf to men, the gullible good guy discovers. He has to adapt quickly to survive.
The dark, nihilist political allegory My Joy is the feature debut of the Ukrainian-born German resident Sergei Loznitsa, whose documentaries have previously been screened at the IFFR. The impressive camerawork is by the Romanian cameraman Oleg Mutu (4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days; The Death of Mr. Lazarescu). At the Cannes Film Festival, My Joy (co-produced by the Dutch company Lemming Film) was the only debut in the Golden Palm competition.