Perla

A visually masterful feminist exploration of the struggle for human rights in the 1980’s Cold War Europe. Our protagonist is 30-something Perla, an artist who has emigrated from Czechoslovakia to Austria and is now leading a bohemian lifestyle as a single mother to her 10-year-old. Perla’s strong brushstrokes and vibrant use of colour are matched by her personality. At a patron’s party she hooks up with a local man. A relationship begins, providing (financial) security and stability. 

Yet a phone call from the past disrupts everything – it is the father of her child, recently released from jail and requesting to see his daughter. Perla and her family embark on a dangerous journey back to the totalitarian regime.

This second feature from director-screenwriter Alexandra Makarová is a strong portrait of trauma-based survival that delightfully rises above individual psychology. The Cold War context and wounds of the totalitarian regime are lived by these bodies, especially the women and children. Also Perla has faced sexual violence in her history. This film reminds us that intra-European refugees are recent history, and that the human rights we deem “European” are tenuous.

Saara Tuusa