One of the most successful directors on the Balkans, winner of the
Golden Lion from Venice and a Foreign Language Oscar nominee for "Before
the Rain", Milcho Manchevski returns to Sofia with his newest independent American film Bikini Moon.
Moving
on the edge between reality and the imaginary, between what really
happens and how we want it to be, the fifth feature film of the famous
Macedonian director who has been living in New York for years, raises
serious issues related to human values, ethics and morality. This
"modern urban fairy-tale" uses the means of documentary filmmaking to
pose the important question of how do we see the world through the media
and how real, realistic and meaningful people are represented.
Through
the eyes of a documentary film crew Trevor and his girlfriend Kate,
Milcho Manchevski tells the intriguing story of Bikini Moon, a woman
with a lively look, a wide smile, bold and impressive, but with visible
mental problems. She lives on the street and, in her words, tries to get
her daughter back, who is placed in a care home for socially
disadvantaged people. The two find Bikini at a nursing home in New York
and want to get her back to normal life. While they are looking for a
home, they both realize how serious and frustrating Bikinis’ situation
is. Eventually, Kate and Trevor invite Bikini to live with them at their
home, but are tempted to use her story to reap fame in the film world..
Milcho
Manchevski was born in 1959 in Skopje. He is a well-recognized
photographer, author of experimental films, as well as nominated music
videos for various music names. After his Oscar and Golden Lion
nomination at Venice in 1994, his work Before The Rain is considered one
of the "best 1000 films of all time", winning another 30 prizes from
international festivals. After this success, Milcho Manchevski moved to
New York and began teaching at New York University - Arts, Film and
Television. The audience at Sofia Film Fest is also familiar with his
other three feature films Dust (2001), Shadows (2007) and Mothers
(2010), the last two being co-productions with Bulgarian participation.