A prizewinner at Edinburgh, Berlin and Sundance, Mermaid conjures up a seaside fairy tale mixed with the darker elements of an unrequited urban romance. Alisa (Shalayeva) grows up on the shores of the Black Sea. With only her raunchy, man-chasing mother and her feeble grandma for companions, she grows up adventurous and independent, but stubborn to the point of refusing to speak for a decade after her mother denied her ballet lessons. She discovers, however, the possibility that she can make her wishes come true with a kind of telekinesis…

Laced with magical realism and a wonderfully oddball sensibility, a level of tenable comparison can – and has – be made to Amélie; however, make no mistake: here Melikian carves a darker tale of whimsy, rippled by a distinct undercurrent of melancholy not seen in its French counterpart. The results are beautiful and resonant in every way.

Wisconsin Film Festival Programme