Bluebird

Lesley, who lives with her husband and daughter in a small American town, leads a lacklustre life. But all that changes after her shift one day when she forgets to check the school bus she uses to drive kids to school from every part of town. One day after a freezing night her life is turned upside down: on one of the back seats she finds a half-dead child who was trapped all night in the cold bus. When a trial convenes to determine Lesley’s level of responsibility, the depressing situation starts to show in the behavior of her withdrawn husband and her little girl. With its stark lensing, the film offers a barely hospitable look at the inhabitants of a small-town community symbolically set in a frosty winter landscape. Debut director Lance Edmands captures the townspeople in all their variety, avoiding a superficially negative portrayal. The film boasts unusually strong performances and an ambiently oppressive atmosphere. (Karlovy Vary International Film Festival)