Love and hate need no translation in Myroslav Slaboshpytskiy's audaciously original and stunningly visceral Ukrainian drama set entirely in the world of the Deaf. Told in its entirety using only sign language from its incredible cast of young actors, this Cannes award-winner is justifiably one of the most talked about and acclaimed films of the year.

When teenager Sergey (Grigoriy Fesenko) arrives at a boarding school for the Deaf he is greeted by more than the usual challenges of new student integration. He's duly put through the requisite initiation rites and it doesn't take long before his fellow students have embedded him into the school's less curricular activities of organised crime, robbery and prostitution. Theirs is a silent world defined by power, violence and exploitation. Balancing all this against the usual proclivities of youth, Sergey's new-found clique operates along the fine lines between business and pleasure, adolescence and adulthood. But no sooner than he's started to move up the tribal ladder he finds his position and loyalties compromised when he falls for a girl who is strictly off-limits.

An innovative rethinking of cinema's language of sight and sound, the audacious decision to film with no dialogue or subtitles (relying solely on the magnificently expressive acting of the Deaf non-professionals) pays off and then some. The result is exhilarating and eerie, and it makes The Tribe one of the most extraordinary films of the year. Dazzling stuff.

Please note that this film contains graphic upsetting scenes.

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