Cat in the wall

A realistic portrait of the situations, obstacles and prejudices that Eastern European citizens can face while trying to build a new life in occidental countries.

Bulgarian directors Vesela Kazakova and Mina Mileva are directing a fiction feature film for the first time, moving away from their usual award-winning documentaries. The film, which has won awards at the Sofia International Film Festival, the Tarkovsky Film Festival and the Warsaw International Film Festival, follows the story of a Bulgarian architect and her attempts to progress in a country where she is not welcome. With this panorama, we can to observe, for an hour and a half, the day-to-day life of a family trying to improve both their economic and social situation, while they see how their plans are continually frustrated by the unfounded prejudice that people have about Eastern Europe citizens. The cat on the wall, which at the same time gives its name to the film, becomes the metaphor that represents the life of these human beings, trapped and without alternatives, despite the fact that all they want is to earn a living with their studies as any other citizen. Sometimes, the approach that the filmmakers take - and which makes sense considering their professional career - is reminiscent of the way that documentaries explore a social issue. Despite successfully representing different stories in the multicultural neighborhood of Peckham, the plot does not show anything beyond the usual in the daily life of a person in a situation similar to that of Irina. The public will not necessarily feel identified with the protagonist. However, the naturalness and humor with which the actress represents her, helps to see in the woman a neighbor or a someone who is familiar, someone we have seen before, although we cannot identify her. The film is a window into Irina's life for a few days, from which a passive spectator observes what is happening, entertained, interested, but without arousing great passions.

Mark: 6/10

Original review: https://contraste.info/cinema/critica-pequenos-milagros-en-peckham-st/