Aviation engineer and talented aerobatic pilot Mark (40)  meets Anna (30), who has had a failed relationship and has recently returned home with her daughter Palsa after living abroad for several years. There she studied literature and worked as a flight attendant for several years until the birth of her daughter. 

Intoxicated with each other and sex, just like the unexpected volcano eruptions in the Siberian Traps obscured the skies, they are confident that they have found a source of comfort, love and happiness in each other. 

Anna is fascinated by the seemingly powerful and cheerful enthusiasm for raising his five-year-old son and realizing his dream of building a strong aerobatic team. Anna is excited about Mark as the right man in her life who will finally make her feel loved and needed and provide a chance to start a new family life; Mark is excited about sex with Anna. 

Anna has returned to working as a flight attendant, and Mark and his team are preparing for the aerobatic competition when the effects of the volcanic eruption reach them – the volcanic emissions have reached the stratosphere, and a thick, constant fog covers the continent. The airspace is shut down, and all flights are cancelled indefinitely. 

Mark receives an invitation to return to the institute to work on a research program about navigation systems that would enable flying in all weather conditions. Mark started the program, and it was shut down due to insufficient funding. Mark accepts the offer. 

Anna talks to Mark about moving in together, but Mark doesn’t feel ready to start a family. Anna feels rejected, and her depression from which she had escaped for a while returns. The more Anna gets attached to Mark, the more he doubts that Anna is right for him until he finally leaves Anna. 

After a while, Mark is forced to admit that he misses Anna and looks for her to rekindle their relationship. They are back together, but the relationship is no longer what it used to be. Anna is often depressed and withdrawn, Mark tries to fix her, and now Anna is the one who pushes Mark away. Mark is soon forced to admit that against his will, he has become entirely dependent on Anna and sex. Anna seeks refuge in the church, Mark follows her.  

Subsequent events challenge Mark and Anna in their own way over several years, revealing their insecurities, pain and wounds. Just like the thick fog that has enveloped and paralyzed the world and in which all reference points have disappeared, Mark and Anna are lost in a co-dependent and destructive relationship. Again and again, Anna escapes and returns to the relationship, which further provokes Mark’s persecution mania and dependence on relationships. Paradoxically, as the fog obscures the surroundings, that which is internal and hidden in the deeper layers of consciousness becomes more visible. For both Mark and Anna, it is a fear of loneliness and an apparent loss of control over their lives. Of getting into a position in which they depend on each other’s attention. 

When everything seems to be lost, and the future is still covered in fog, Mark and Anna are confronted with an existential question: what is the root of security and the source of happiness? The other person, external circumstances, in faith in a higher power, or themselves? 

After all, by acknowledging their deepest fears and wounds, they can accept that the solution lies not in changing the other person or the environment but in changing their attitude, taking responsibility for themselves. Mark stops chasing, but Anna stops fleeing. 

Renars studied film directing and cinematography at the Latvian Academy of Culture in Riga, Latvia and in the Baltic Film School in Estonia. Later acquired extensive training in a series of workshops in other countries – United Kingdom, Germany, Austria, Luxemburg and Russia. His debut feature ‘Mellow Mud’ in 2016 won The Crystal Bear for ‘Best Feature Film’ in ‘Generation 14+’ BERLINALE and ‘Best feature film’, ‘Best script’ and ‘Best actress’ prizes in annual Latvian national award as well has won other awards in international festivals around the globe – in total the film has been screened in more than 50 film festivals in 40 countries, winning 30 awards. Highly respected film critics such as Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, Screen Daily, Cineuropa as well as Russian Guild of Film Critics have very well received Renar’s work. MELLOW MUD has been selected for prestigious ‘Variety Critics’ Choice’ program in Karlovy Vary International Film festival 2016, showcasing 10 best European films of the year. Renars Vimba is a member of the Latvian Filmmakers Union, and has also served on its board.

Anna Kalnina’s screenwriting studies include Masters degree from the Latvian Academy of Culture as well as instruction under the tutelage of Russia’s leading screenwriters Lilia Kim and Aleksandr Molchanov. She has  written several feature screenplays and shorts, primarily intimate dramas.
Anna is of Latvian Russian origin and grew up in the turmoil of Latvia’s struggle for independence, that impacted her deeply on the personal level.  As a result  Anna has developed a keen interest for unrepresented voices, particularly of women, children and those disregarded for otherness.
Inspired by the intimacy of Kieslowski and directness and purity of Ken Loach Anna continues her creative pursuit with In the Pallid Light, investigating the balance between the personal and the universal, essence and detail, precision and scope.