Part of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association’s mission is to foster greater understanding through world cinema. This year 72 Foreign Language films were submitted for Golden Globes consideration. Here is an overview of one of them.

Filmed in winter near the Caspian Sea, The Gulls is the debut feature from writer/director Ella Manzheeva, a native of the small Russian republic of Kalmykia.

The first film of its kind from the region in decades, the story is about a fisherman's wife who becomes emancipated from her suppressed domestic existence after a life-altering incident involving her husband at sea.

The sudden death of Elisa's (Evgeniya Mandzhieva) – estranged husband – Dzhiga (Sergey Adianov) forces Elisa to reflect and reconsider her views on life, her happiness and achieve personal inner freedom.

The Russian region of Kalmykia is currently experiencing an active revival of the Kalmyk language, which was on the verge of extinction – a consequence of Stalinist repression. Kalmyks are a very reserved people – they rarely show their emotions and understand each other without words, which is one of the film's many cultural discoveries.

The role of Elsa is also a debut for Evgeniya Mandzhieva, a former model from Kalmykia. Previously she was L'Oreal 's face and worked with Dolce & Gabbana, Jean-Paul Gaultier and several other fashion brands.

According to Manzheeva, The Gulls is a film about the energy of life and the universal need to stop and listen to ourselves in order to hear others. The inspiration for the film was a painting by Finnish painter Helena Junttila. "It spoke to me and sank deep into my soul", says the director. "Helena Junttila’s works awoke the power of my ancestry and my true nature." According to the director, Helena always draws the exact same woman in a very specific state of mind … One of those paintings, Windy day, became the poster for The Gulls.

Nelle Holmes