

During a freezing WWII winter, two Soviet partisans on a mission to gather food contend with the temperature, the occupying Germans, and their own psyches.

Boris Plotnikov
Sotnikov
Lead
Vladimir Gostyukhin
Rybak

Anatoliy Solonitsyn
Portnov, collaborationist interrogator

Lyudmila Polyakova
Avginya Demchikha, the mother

Viktoriya Goldentul
Basya Meyer, the girl

Sergei Yakovlev
Petr Sych, village elder

Mariya Vinogradova
Village elder's wife

Mykola Sektymenko
Stas Gomenyuk, collaborationist policeman
“A staggering achievement of craft and ambition. Larisa Shepitko's vision lands with breathtaking precision.”
“Every frame feels alive. The Ascent is the rare release that takes its audience seriously.”