Jas sum od Titov Veles

North Macedonia

Synopsis

We are three sisters; there is Sapho, Slavica and I.
Sapho is the youngest, she plays handball and goes out with men, many men, she has the disease of modern living, hopping from dick to dick, all in hope not to stay alone or at least leave this wretched place. I, Afrodita am her older twin, we do not look much alike, but we feel, I do not speak, I never have, and I am not stupid I just have a physical problem of not speaking.
Slavica is our older sister, she is thirty - five and had been on a methadone therapy for nine year, now, she is fine, she cooks, I clean and we keep the household going.
We live in Titov Veles, it is Veles now since Tito is gone, between ourselves we still call it Titov Veles. There is a lead factory Tito built in the time of communism or social democracy as he called it, the factory is in the centre of the City and is polluting us all. Kids with two heads and seven Fingers are being born, middle-aged men die prematurely, women get cancer.
I live in a community that is slowly dying and I only wonder when my turn will come. I am a virgin and 27, I am not a virgin because of my inability to speak, I have had many opportunities but I have not met the right one. Anyway, I do not like anyone plus we are busy at the moment looking for a suitable husband for Slavica. By me she is the most beautiful woman in Titov Veles. Our parents are not here, well our father died as soon as our mother left.
Now it is Sapho's turn to leave, she spends most of her Mondays waiting at the Greek Embassy in Skopje. She is almost there, she says.

Director's Statement

I AM FROM TITOV VELES is set in contemporary Macedonia, in it's social and cultural realities.
Due to the rapid changes of the past decade in the Balkans, many negative aspects of our society have surfaced. Three sisters: Afrodita, Sapho and Slavica struggle to find their places as women and equal citizens in this transforming world.
I AM FROM TITOV VELES is a highly emotional story, and an aim to get right to the stomach of the spectator. It is a story of a family falling apart, where the character's final act of sacrifice is essentially a noble act and a cry for something that had been, but is no more.
I AM FROM TITOV VELES is a film in search of beauty elsewhere, in the most unexpected and uncomfortable places and aspects of daily life. Form and style are closely connected to the context of the film, and nostalgia is the profound emotion in. The film is a conversion of stagnant pictures, where it is only the characters that move within the frame.
The main themes are: simplicity of form and roughness of emotion.
Finally, I AM FROM TITOV VELES prepares you for a new beginning, a renaissance that can start precisely here in the Balkans, a movement that will focus on our future rather than our past.
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Cast & Crew

Directed by: Teona Strugar Mitevska

Written by: Teona Strugar Mitevska

Produced by: Labina Mitevska

Cinematography: Virginie Saint-Martin

Cast: Labina Mitevska (Afrodita), Ana Kostavska (Slavica), Nikolina Kujaca (Sapho)

Nominations and Awards

  • Feature Film Selection 2008