Films & Events
Katia's Sister
Mijke de Jong's bold new film is a powerful indictment of the inequalities and hardships facing people who migrate to the West from Eastern Europe. Katia’s Sister follows the struggles of 13-year-old Lucia, who tries to retain her childlike optimism in the face of the harsh realities of the adult world. Her story begins when she leaves Russia with her mother and older sister, Katia, hoping to find a better life. But after arriving in Amsterdam, their aspirations are soon deflated. To make ends meet, the girls' desperately poor mother finds herself soliciting on Amsterdam's seediest streets and the effervescent but misguided Katia starts stripping. As bespectacled plain-Jane Lucia watches the women's lives spiral hopelessly downward, she retreats into emotional isolation. She becomes just “Katia's little sister”—a girl without a name of her own. In a world defined by drugs, prostitution and pornography, the things she values most—optimism and love—have become virtually worthless. Making use of handheld, close-up camera work to capture the nuances of Lucia’s suffering as she tries to keep her family together, de Jong skillfully delineates a portrait of a society where desperation forces decent people into committing otherwise unthinkable acts.
Cast & Crew
Director: Mijke de Jong
Producer: Hans de Wolf
Editor: Dorith Vinken
Screenwriter: Jan Eilander, Jolein Laarman, based on the novel by Andrés Barba
Cinematographer: Ton Peters
Music: Leo Anemaet
Principal Cast: Betty Qizmolli, Julia Seijkens, Olga Louzgina
Filmography: Tussenstand (2007); All Souls (2005); Bluebird (2004); Lopen (1999); Broos (1997); Love Hurts (1993)
World Sales: Media Luna Entertainment
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(2 reviews)
user reviews
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pretty good, Jun 10, 2009
By Ashley Danies
“I liked this movie because the acting was good, and the character of lucia (katia's sister) was very affecting. The best parts of this movie is when lucia is alone and begins a dialogue with her absent family which really reveals a lot about her and her role in her family as this sort of nameless,”
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Compasionately made but predictable festival fare, Jun 11, 2009
By Maxwell Bourasaw
“A well crafted release from "Bluebird" director Miike de Jong, "Katia's Sister" is compasionately made but in many ways as fleeting and predictable as the usual glum coming-of-age stories found throughout the festival. Lucia (Katia's Sister) has a prostitute for a mother, an older sister who's”
… full review
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