Bulgaria

MONKEYS IN WINTER

CREDITS

35mm – colore - 111’

Direction: Milena Andonova
Screenplay: Maria Stankova, Milena Andonova
Photography: Rali Ralčev
Editing: Petar Popzlatev
Music: Konstantin Tzekov
Designer: George Todorov
Cast: Bonka Ilieva-Boni, Diana Dobreva, Angelina Slavova.
Producer: Nevena Andonova
Production: Proventus Film House, 13 Kyustendil, 1504 Sofia, Bulgaria, Tel: +359 2 843 7638, Fax: +359 2 944 1903, email: nevena.proventus@dir.bg
World sales:  Pangea world, 21 Rue Dautancourt 75017, Paris, Tel: +33 1 42 29 60 40, website: pangea-world.com

SYNOPSIS

Dona, Lukrecie and Tana – three women of different origins and destinies, whose stories unfold at different times… The tale of the Romany woman Dona begins in the 1960s. The only assets this beautiful and vital woman has are her three children fathered by different men. In order to secure a livelihood for them, she moves in with an older, but disabled man, who turns out to be a pervert… Ten years later, the ambitious Lukrecie is trying to avoid employment in the village. After she becomes pregnant by a prospective suitor, she meets an attractive young man who offers her a life abroad, something she had always dreamed of. Lukrecie resolves her situation in the most appalling way…Tana, the wife of a prosperous businessman, vainly longs to have a child. On the advice of a friend, she goes off to a spa, whose miraculous reputation is attributable to a skilful masseur. Her husband, however, is unmoved by the joyful news… Three stories offering three insights into the tragic outcome of relationships between men and women, which give rise to both longed-for and unwanted children.

THE DIRECTOR: MILENA ANDONOVA

Milena Andonova (b. 1959, Burgas, Bulgaria) graduated in film and television direction from NATFIZ (1982) in Sofia. Her degree piece, the short feature Days of Yesterday (Dni ot vchera) was screened at the IFF in Montreal (1990). She attended a six-month course in film dramaturgy as part of the Nipkow programme in 1998. The film Monkeys in Winter is her feature debut.

FILMOGRAPHY

2006 Monkeys In Winter
1993 I reche oslitzata na Valaam, cm doc
1990 Days of Yesterday (Dni ot vchera), cm

SELECTED FESTIVAL AND AWARDS

2006 Cottbus Film Festival of Young East European Cinema in competition
2006 Karlovi Vary IFF: East of the West Award