directed by Ruxandra Zenide, drama, mystery, 99 min, eng subtitles
written by Ruxandra Zenide, Alex Iordachescu, Doina Rusti
with Elina Löwensohn, George Piºtereanu, Bogdan Dumitrache,Dorotheea Petre
Unmarried Mara has mysteriously fallen pregnant. This poses a problem for her fellow residents in the small fishing village on the Danube delta, where Europe’s second longest river enters the Black Sea, and religion mixes with superstition like earth with water. Expelled from her village, Mara finds employment at the nearby spa hotel Tekir where infertile women are treated with the sacred Danube mud. When her world collides with that of the well-to-do, eccentric and cosmopolitan Lili, magic combines with power and tradition with modernity to become the answer to Lili’s desire to have children – and Mara’s ‘immaculate’ conception. Through the encounter of the two women and the pilgrimage of a priest looking for answers, the film plunges us into a journey between two worlds, one invisible and elusive and the other material and controllable.
Awards:
The Emerging Swiss Talent Award ZFF