Ága

Reindeer hunter Nanook and his wife Sedna live somewhere in the icy wastes of the north. Their daily life is arduous, but they never complain. Instead, they tell each other the old legends, and their dreams. No matter whether they are describing imaginary encounters with animals, humans, the living or the dead, everything has its meaning. Sedna is unwell, seriously ill in fact. Although she rubs home-made ointment on the part of her belly that is causing her so much pain, she knows she is dying. She would so much love to talk about Ága, the daughter who left the parental home years ago to work far away in a diamond mine. But Nanook won’t broach the subject. He can talk about absolutely everything with his wife, about ghosts and about gods, but not about his own child. What will become of the old man when Sedna sets off on her journey into eternity? A rather special love story, set against the striking backdrop of the permafrost, that is also a study of speechlessness and an emotional hardening that can only be softened in the face of death.
by Milko Lazarov
with Mikhail Aprosimov, Feodosia Ivanova, Galina Tikhonova, Sergey Egorov, Afanasiy Kylaev
Bulgaria / Germany / France 2018 Sakha (Yakut) 96’ Colour World premiere

With

  • Mikhail Aprosimov (Nanook)
  • Feodosia Ivanova (Sedna)
  • Galina Tikhonova (Ága)
  • Sergey Egorov (Chena)
  • Afanasiy Kylaev (Truck driver)

Crew

Director Milko Lazarov
Screenplay Milko Lazarov, Simeon Ventsislavov
Cinematography Kaloyan Bozhilov
Editing Veselka Kiryakova
Music Penka Kouneva
Sound Design Sebastian Schmidt
Sound Mixing Florian Marquardt
Sound Johannes Doberenz
Production Design Ariunsaichan Dawaachu
Costumes Vanina Geleva, Daria Dmitrieva
Make-Up Natalya Tomskaya, Raisa Kolodeznikova
Assistant Director Emil Granicharov
Production Managers Georgi Skerlev, Stoyan Mizyulev
Producer Veselka Kiryakova
Co-Producers Eike Goreczka, Christoph Kukula, Guillaume de Seille, Alexander Bohr, Sevda Shishmanova
Co-Production 42film Halle (Saale)
Arizona Productions Paris
ZDF/Arte Mainz
BNT Sofia

Produced by

Red Carpet

Milko Lazarov

Born in Bulgaria in 1967, he studied under Vladislav Ikonomov at the Krastyo Sarafov National Academy for Theatre and Film Arts in Sofia and later worked there himself as a lecturer in the film department. His debut feature film Alienation premiered at the Giornate degli Autori in Venice.

Filmography

2000 Roundabout; short film 2001 Erlkoenig; short film 2007 Hristo Botev; documentary · Stefan Stambolov; documentary 2009 One Hundred Years of Solitude; documentary 2013 Alienation 2018 Ága

Bio- & filmography as of Berlinale 2018