Ralitza Petrova
Lust
When a daughter becomes the unwitting heir to her estranged father, all she wants is to refuse the inheritance, and get back to her life. But a near-death experience changes everything.
SYNOPSIS
LILIAN (42), a flawed prison psychologist with a phobia of intimacy, is suddenly shaken when she inherits her deceased, estranged father, binding her to his debts and the duty of his burial. Overwhelmed by having to confront a past she wishes to avoid, Lilian relapses into old habits of sex-and-love addiction, compromising her vow to celibacy. The emergence of a deeply buried family secret threatens to send her over the edge, during a dangerously reckless bondage session. But what seems like the ultimate bottom in the face of a near-death experience, surprisingly offers an unconventional path to reconnecting with her higher self, bringing healing and acceptance.
DIRECTOR/WRITER
Ralitza Petrova
PRODUCERS
Poli Angelova
Nikolay Todorov
Ralitza Petrova
Eva Jakobsen
Anna Byvald
PRODUCTION COMPANIES
Aporia Filmworks
Screening Emotions
Snowglobe
Silver Films
COUNTRIES
Bulgaria
Denmark
Sweden
GENRE
Fiction
Ralitza Petrova
RALITZA PETROVA (b. 1976, Sofia, Bulgaria) studied film and video art at the University of the Arts London and later fiction directing at the UK's National Film and Television School (NFTS). Her shorts have won wide acclaim on the film festival circuit, including Cannes, Berlin, and Locarno, as well as on numerous art platforms such as Tate Modern and the Centre Pompidou. In 2016, her feature debut GODLESS (2016) premiered at the Locarno Film Festival, where it won four awards, including the Golden Leopard for Best Film. Since then, the film has won 27 awards and has been nominated for European Discovery 2017 – Prix FIPRESCI by the European Film Academy. Ralitza Petrova is a fellow of the DAAD Artist-in-Berlin Program 2019, where she developed her next feature film, LUST, a Bulgarian-Danish-Swedish coproduction, supported by the Bulgarian National Film Centre, The Danish Film Institute, FilmiVast, and Eurimages, which is currently in post-production in Copenhagen, Denmark. She is an alumna of TorinoFilmLab, Le Groupe Ouest, Nipkow Programm, the DAAD Artists-in-Berlin Program, and a member of the European Film Academy and Women in Film Los Angeles.
DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT
In 2016, my father passed away. I had seen him a handful of times throughout my life. Growing up in a single-parent household meant my mother had little time to be the ever-present parent many of us long for. Throughout adulthood, I couldn’t stop noticing the parallels between the people I kept investing in and my absentee parents. These memories became the foundation for LUST. A coming-of-middle-aged psychodrama with elements of mystery, fantasy and ghost story, exploring the aftermath of parental emotional and physical absence in adult life. Where, ironically, trauma and addiction hold the keys to growth.
Poli Angelova
POLI ANGELOVA
Production company profile
APORIA FILMWORKS is a film production company founded by filmmaker Ralitza Petrova in 2015. Based in Sofia, Bulgaria, but collaborating with a pool of international award-winning talent, our aim is to produce innovative cinema that allows for artistic experimentation while pushing the boundaries of narrative storytelling. Our films and co-productions have been showcased internationally and have collectively been awarded over a hundred awards, including a Golden Leopard for Best Film at Locarno 2016, a European Film Academy nomination for European Discovery 2017 – Prix FIPRESCI, a LUX Prize nomination, multiple Golden Rose awards for Best Film, and a Grand Prix for Best Film in the International Competition at the Sofia International Film Festival, amongst others. Our producing credits include the multiple award-winning film GODLESS (2016) by director Ralitza Petrova, GLORY (2016) by directing duo Petar Valchanov and Kristina Grozeva, and WHOLE (2019) by director Slava Doycheva.
Where are we at?
TOTAL ESTIMATED BUDGET
731.800 €
NEEDED FOR COMPLETION
Between 25.000 - 50.000 €
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Completion Funds