Moonlight in Odessa

A wry and funny look at relationships and our own desires, Moonlight in Odessa deals with the choices and sacrifices we make in the search for love and stability.

Frustrated with life in post-Soviet Ukraine—the city of Odessa is dominated by the mafia, unemployment, and poverty—Daria believes she's hit the jackpot when she lands a job at Argonaut after months of searching. After all, working as a secretary in a multinational company isn't bad at all, given the lack of opportunities in her country's current situation.

Daria would finally be able to improve her life and that of Boba, her grandmother. But nothing is as easy as it seems: her boss, Mr. Harmon, soon makes it clear that sleeping with him is on her to-do list. Determined to escape her boss's embarrassing advances, she finds herself on the verge of losing her job.

She then begins working as an interpreter for Soviet Unions, a dating agency specializing in finding Odessan women for lonely Americans. And she soon discovers that she, too, is not immune to the temptations of the American dream: when she corresponds with a shy and sensitive professor from San Francisco, she finds herself faced with a dilemma: stay with Vlad—a sexy and reckless mobster—or live a quiet life in the United States with the professor.