#8. Olga Shuvalova
In a film where there are so many oddball characters that it’s difficult to just mention one, but it’s this shrimp sized actress with not that much screen time that has retained my attention. In only her second film role, Olga Shuvalova briefly reminded me of Jodie Foster’s part in Taxi Driver – an aged beyond her years character turning tricks at a very wholesome age. Shuvalova gives the character the kind of gusto needed to survive in the sort of Ukrainian village where tough economic times seem to last for centuries. Sergei Loznitsa’s My Joy should have enough reach beyond Cannes, but contained only to film festivals specializing in difficult films.
