Biljana Garvanlieva:

The Seamstresses

Talented women, such as artists and authors, who haven’t managed to flee from Macedonia, have only one choice if they want to survive: become seamstresses. Eriela, Beti, and Vesna are seamstresses in Štip, a small city in Macedonia. If they wanted to buy one of their blouses, they would have to work hard for an entire month for it. While the women have full-time work, the men were less fortunate after the fall of communism, finding themselves unemployed. This of course created a situation with the potential for lots of conflict, because no man who is used to going to his work with pride likes being reliant on his wife for survival.

With the textile industry as its backdrop, this is the story of the children of the revolution in Macedonia. “The Seamstresses” casts a glance behind the curtain of globalization.

Thanks to the Border Crossers research she conducted, not only was Biljana Garvanlieva able to build a close relationship with and gain the trust of the protagonists, but she also acquired a Macedonian coproduction partner, which allowed “The Seamstresses” to be filmed as a German-Macedonian coproduction. The director writes: “The team’s international background is more than just the sum of its members. My knowledge of ‘home’ and the inquisitive viewpoint of the ‘foreigners’ complement each other, and create exactly the right relationship between closeness to and distance from the film’s content.”
30 min. / 2010
Produced by: gebrueder beetz filmproduktion

The Accordion Player
from the television series “Mädchengeschichten” on 3sat

When I was eight, I played the piano. Eagerly. Successfully. But I couldn’t progress because my parents were unable to buy me a professional piano. After visiting my family in Macedonia, I noticed the parallels with my cousin Emilija. That was when the idea for a film was born, and in early 2006 I decided to go on a research trip. During this trip, I realized that Emilija’s family, though poor, is incredibly musical and in love with life. As one of Macedonia’s few female accordion players, she learned to hold her own in a man’s world and is fighting for the right to participate in another international competition this spring. She plays well enough to qualify, but to enter the competition she needs a professional accordion, which she cannot afford. Her story is the subject of a film that aims to engage the emotions of the audience. In the words of my cousin Emilija, “Everything that comes from the heart, goes straight to the heart.”
30 min. / 2006
Produced by: gebrueder beetz filmproduktion

Biljana Garvanlieva
was born in Skopje, Macedonia in 1973. After studying drama in Skopje, in 1999 she received a grant from the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) to study theater and film at the Free University of Berlin (Freien Universität Berlin). She currently lives and works in Berlin as a freelance author and director. In 2006 she directed a Border Crossers documentary for the TV network 3sat entitled “The Accordion Player,” which has won several awards, including the “Golden Lola” German Short Film Award. In 2009 she followed up her previous success with “Tobacco Girl,” which has received numerous awards for its direction. In 2010, Garvanlieva was awarded the “Heart of Sarajevo” prize for Best Documentary at the 16th Sarajevo Film Festival, for her Border Crossers film “The Seamstresses.”