One of the most striking debuts in recent memory, Dea Kulumbegashvili’s feature marks the revelation of an exciting new voice in cinema. Shot in luminous 35mm long takes that boldly evoke isolation and longing, it tells a profound story of a woman’s resilience facing communal hostility and violence.

Storm clouds darken fields of rapeseed and livestock shrink from torchlight in Dea Kulumbegashvili’s unblinking second feature, named after the cruelest month. Resolutely formalist in its depiction of moral courage, April reckons with male violence and salvific endings in the season of new life.