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About the maker
Hi, my name is Anna and I'm a half Bulgarian half English filmmaker. I grew up in Bulgaria and my culture has always been a part of my creative process. I moved to The Netherlands for my studies which prompted me to experience many different cultures and the contrast between Eastern and Western Europe. But in this film I want to explore the feeling of being disconnected from your other culture.

Iva, a young Slavic girl, freshly out of her teens, feels directionless. She sets off on a trip across Europe to figure herself out, as she documents everything on her camcorder, which she finds to be a comforting way to romanticize her life, unknowingly using it as a way of coping with her existential dread. Her main destination is the North of Holland where she hopes to meet her father's side of her family for the first time. She has never had a relationship with her father, so she feels there's a missing piece from her identity and thinks she might find that by meeting her grandmother.

Motivation
As a bicultural person, I've always asked where I belong. Never knowing what is best for me and which side of my family I feel closer to. In this film, I want to focus on the struggle of the identity of a young woman.

As a child, I would wonder what it would be like to live back in England (one of my two home countries). Next to this, I had a father who did not speak one of my first languages, which always put me one step further from him.

The early stages of becoming an adult are confusing and scary. I know I have and still do feel a lot of existential dread and questioning. With this existential element, I hope to connect to a broader audience.

In this story the MC has no relationship with her father since this creates a whole new world of self-discovery. Not knowing half of your family is like not knowing half of yourself. It creates a facade that one might find peace in knowing that part of oneself but sometimes the romanticization of this discovery can lead to disappointment.