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Idiotka film image; woman pressing her hands to her cheeks

Idiotka

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Canadian Premiere

Margarita (Anna Baryshnikov) is an aspiring clothing designer who lands a spot on a new fashion competition show. A third-generation immigrant living in the Russian part of West Hollywood, she helps her ailing grandmother and ex-con father pay bills by selling counterfeit clothes online, but when the producers show more interest in her struggle than her talent, she must decide if chasing her dream is worth betraying her family’s trust.

The cynical worlds of fashion and reality TV serve as a backdrop for a charming family comedy in Nastasya Popov’s directorial debut, combining haute couture with cutting satire. The film’s fictional show Slay, Serve, Survive is a pitch-perfect parody featuring a colourful wardrobe of creations ranging from gag-worthy showstoppers to runway disasters. Idiotka’s heart lies in its focus on Margarita’s cultural identity as she tries to define herself amidst a contest intent on sensationalizing her family secrets.

Director
Cast

Anna Baryshnikov, Camila Mendes, Mark Ivanir, Galina Jovovich, Nerses Stamos, Owen Thiele

Credits
Country of Origin

USA

Year

2025

Language

In English and Russian with English subtitles

Links
18+

At International Village

19+

At The Rio

82 min
Documentary Drama Family Relations Women Directors
Virgo Films, Honor Role, Spark Features, H.wood Media, Gulfstream Pictures

Book Tickets

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Credits & Director

Executive Producer

Josh Peters, Robina Riccitiello, John Terzian, Brian Toll, Jeremy Allen, Emma Silvers, Bill Bindley, Mike Karz, Lisa Kleiner Chanoff, Jack Defuria, David Kaplan, Julia Fox, Anna Baryshnikov

Producer

Tess Cohen, Nastasya Popov, Camila Mendes, Rachel Matthews, Saba Zerehi

Screenwriter

Nastasya Popov

Cinematography

Kristen Correll

Editor

Taylor Joy Mason, Rob Paglia

Production Design

Francesca Palombo

Original Music

Ian Hultquist

Nastasya Popov headshot

Nastasya Popov

Nastasya Popov is a writer and director from Los Angeles. Her script for Idiotka (2025) was selected for the SFFILM Invest Lab, and her documentaries and shorts have won numerous awards. She holds a bachelor’s degree in creative nonfiction and Slavic literature from Northwestern. Idiotka is her feature debut.

Photo by Josh Aronson

 

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