Wri/Dir: Alexandra Makarova | Cast: Hilda Daily, Simon Schwarz, Rebeka Polakova, Noel Czuczor | Drama/Austria/Slovakia
In this stylish often harrowing communist love triangle a gifted painter and her precocious musician daughter attempt to grapple with the fallout when their comfortable life in Vienna is disrupted.
The timeframe is the early 1980s and parts of Eastern Europe are still under the communist cosh. But when Perla (Rebeka Polakova) is unavoidably summoned back to her previous home in Kosice, communist Czechoslovakia, she finds carried off on a romantic reverie into the past which risks everything she has fought for to be in Austria, and particularly her new relationship with Josef (Simon Schwarz).
Despite its elegant framing and lush visuals a sinister ‘big brother’ atmosphere wraps its steely claw round this often achingly romantic view of a country behind the Iron Curtain: People queue for food, hotel lobbies echo with rigorous hospitality, the menacing authority is ever present. A scene involving an icy blond communist agent gives the film one of its most emotionally charged moments. A brilliant sophomore feature from writer director Andrea Markova, best known for Crush My Heart (2018), and now competing for this year’s Tiger Competition.
INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM 2025