Macedonian Dream

This is a film about becoming an adult in one of Europe‘s more desolate corners.

Year

2007

Length

30 min

Director

Biljana Garvanlieva

This is the portrait of a young accordionist in the 21st century. It is a film about the joys of life and survival strategies on the forgotten stage of Macedonia. This is the story of a 17-year-old accordionist, who is searching for her place in the world. Corridors are her practice rooms – at home and at school. The whole year she practices diligently and passionately on her old Supita accordion. Obviously, she wasn’t given the name Emilija, meaning „the keen one“, for nothing.

She wants to become a professional accordionist, but for this she needs a new accordion. Something that is unattainable for her poor family. But the family‘s poverty also releases their creativity and Imagination. Her father, an art teacher, begins to work as a bodyguard, while Emilija‘s mother illegally sells sweets in the family garden. This is a film about becoming an adult in one of Europe‘s more desolate corners.

Credits

Director
Biljana Garvanlieva

Camera
Susanne Schüle

Editor
André Nier

Sound
Manuel Zimmer

Line producer
Eva Rink

Producer
Christian Beetz

Commissioning Editor
Brigitta Lange (3Sat)

Sales & distribution

88 min

Trailer

„Just in diesem Moment überraschen uns die aus dem Theaterbereich stammenden jungen Regisseure Hans Block und Moritz Riesewieck mit einem erstaunlichen Dokumentarfilm, der seit Monaten Publikum und Kritik auf den wichtigsten Festivals der Welt elektrisiert. Völlig zu Recht: Es ist, als würden einem die Scheuklappen weggerissen, als sähe man das, was sich seit Jahren direkt vor unseren Augen abspielt, zum ersten Mal unverschleiert... eine fesselnde ,Doku noir' mit höchstem Anspruch...Dieser Film müsste an allen Schulen gezeigt werden.“

Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung

17.05.2018