Georgia, 1992.

IN BLOOM is a powerful story of two young girls navigating the oppressive familial and societal expectations of post-Soviet Georgia. Tbilisi, 1992: the newly independent state must fend for itself, even as civil war rages in the provinces. For 14 year-old best friends Eka and Natia, their childhood in the run-down city has come to an abrupt halt, as insecurity and fear of what the future might bring bleeds into everyday life. The introverted Eka lives in a book-filled apartment with her dismissive, boy-crazy elder sister and her preoccupied single-parent mother; precocious Natia lives in the chaotic atmosphere of a cramped apartment with her extended working-class family, dominated by her alcoholic father. But like most schoolgirls, Eka and Natia are far more concerned with life outside classroom gossip, music, and exercising their budding sexual power over the local boys.