Ayka

Ayka (Айка) is a 2018 drama film directed by Sergey Dvortsevoy. It was selected to compete for the Palme d'Or at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival. At Cannes, Samal Yeslyamova won the award for Best Actress. It was selected as the Kazakhstani entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 91st Academy Awards, making the December shortlist. The film was produced under the working title My Little One.

Plot
The story is centered around a young Kyrgyz woman named Ayka who lives in Moscow, Russia. After giving birth to a baby, she abandons the newborn, escaping through a hospital window. She is desperate for income, as she owes money to criminals but now struggles to repay the debt. She returns to a job plucking chicken feathers. After the work is done, the men running the operation leave without paying their workers. Trying to regain another previous job, Ayka finds that she has been permanently replaced while in labor. With her work permit expired and pain and complications from the pregnancy, it is nearly impossible for her to find or keep another employment. Ayka finally gets a part-time job as a cleaner at the veterinary clinic.

Debt collectors find her and demand she return their money, threatening to torture her sister back in Kyrgyzstan. She confesses to them about the recent birth of a son, saying that she became pregnant as a result of rape. They offer to take her child in order to settle her debts.

Cast

 * Samal Yeslyamova as Ayka
 * Polina Severnaya as the hospital administrator
 * Andrey Kolyadov as Victor, the chief

Critical response
Ayka has an approval rating of 82% on review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, based on 11 reviews, and an average rating of 6.7/10.