SISTER
BULGARIA, QATAR
2019 – DCP – color – 97’
Direction: Svetla Tsotsorkova
Screenplay: Svetoslav Ovcharov, Svetla Tsotsorkova
Cinematography: Vesselin Hristov
Editing: Svetla Tsotsorkova
Set design: Mira Kalanova
Music: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Hristo Namliev, Svetoslav Ovcharov
Costumes: Mira Kalanova
Cast: Monika Naydenova, Svetlana Yancheva, Elena Zamyarkova, Assen Blatechky
Producers: Svetoslav Ovcharov, Svetla Tsotsorkova
Production: Omega Films con il supporto del Doha Film Institute
World sales: Film Republic
SYNOPSIS
A small town in present-day Bulgaria. A mother and her two daughters are struggling to survive. The dreamy and distracted younger daughter often invents stories in order to make life more interesting. Unwittingly, she eventually gets caught in the trap of her own lies and destroys her older sister’s well-ordered materialistic world. While struggling to get to the truth, the two sisters find out the truth about their mother.
SVETLA TSOTSORKOVA
THE DIRECTOR:
Born in Burgas, Bulgaria in 1977. In 2004 she graduated from the National Academy for Theatre and Film Arts in Sofia. Her first short film Life with Sophia was screened at various international film festivals (Semaine de la Critique, Karlovy Vary, Telluride, among others) and won various awards (Trieste, Lodz, among others). Her first feature Thirst had its World Premiere at San Sebastian FF – New Directors competition in 2015. The film participated in more than 60 festivals around the world, received various awards and was sold in 15 countries. The film was nominated by European Film Academy for “Discovery” in 2016.
DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT
“Sister is actually a story about myself. I was raised by my grandmother in a village in the Strandzha Mountain in the southeast-
ern part of Bulgaria. Our life there was boring, locked as it was between the vineyard, the vegetable garden, and taking care of the donkey. And how can you not make up stories when the daily grind itself doesn’t offer anything exciting?
Sister is a love confession for the people who live precisely such seemingly unremarkable lives. It seems to me that we all owe a debt to the truth about the kind of world we live in.”
FILMOGRAPHY
2004 Life with Sophia (short)
2015 Thirst
2019 Sister
AWARDS AND FESTIVALS
2019 San Sebastián IFF – Nuovi Registi New Directors: Menzione Speciale Special Mention
2019 Cottbus FF of Young East European Cinema – Concorso Competition: Miglior Film Best Film
2019 Warsaw IFF – Concorso Opere Prime e Seconde Competition 1-2: Premio della Giovane Giuria FIPRESCI Young FIPRESCI Jury Award
2019 Minsk IFF – Youth on the March
2020 Sofia IFF – Concorso Internazionale International Competition: Miglior Film Best Film
2020 Transilvania IFF – Concorso Internazionale International Competition: Premio Speciale della Giuria Special Jury Award