There’s always something a little tragic about child prodigies. Either they make it through the growing pains of the peak of their fame or they succumb to the immense pressure thrust on them to continue and live up to whatever astronomical output put them on the map in the first place. Nika Turbina, child prodigy Russian poet who began her career at age 6 and died age 27, seems to have fallen into the latter category. Director and co-writer Vasilisa Kuzmina’s NIKA, written with Yulia Gulyan and making its world premiere at this year’s SXSW Film Festival, tells the story of Nika as she struggles to grapple with her own hopes and dreams in the face of a world who staunchly refuses to see her as anything more than what she was at her peak: a child prodigy and poet, destined for greatness and a comeback she does not necessarily wish to make. In fact, what Nika (Elizaveta Yankoskaya) wants most is a complete departure from her childhood path and a...