At the age of seven Emilija gets an accordion, with 14 she wins the national accordion competition of Macedonia. In this documentary the author portrays the life of her 17 years old cousin, who comes from a poor but very musical and swinging family living in a little village. Emilija is one of the only female accordion players in Macedonia and has to prove herself in the men’s world. She fights for the right to participate in an international competition that is taking place in spring. Emilija plays good enough, but the condition is to have a professional and exorbitant expensive accordion.
Biljana Garvanlieva
Biljana Garvanlieva was born in Skopje, Macedonia. After her studies at the Philology Faculties and Faculty of Drama Arts in Skopje, she received a DAAD scholarship and continued studying in Tübingen and Berlin. After working as a radio journalist and playwright for theatre, she acted as director. Her debut film ‘Macedonia Dream – A Girl and Her Accordion’ won the most important German Short Film Award Golden Lola as well as the German Axel-Springer-Award for young journalists. The film received a Special Mention Award at ZagrebDox festival and many more international film awards. Her second film, award-winning ‘Tobacco Girl’ was screened at 6th ZagrebDox.
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Macedonian Dream - A Girl and Her Accordion
Macedonia
2006, 30', color, video
Directed by:
Biljana Garvanlieva
Screenplay by:
Biljana Garvanlieva
Cinematography:
Susanne Schüle
Edited by:
Andre Nier
Producer:
Christian Beetz
Produced by:
Gebrueder Beetz Filmproduktion
