Lyubima, an artist in her 30s, is left by her partner. She needs to start anew, but the grief is there, as big as an African elephant… Lyubima does not see the Elephant that leaves a mess on her carpet, when she is back from stalking her ex and his new girlfriend… She does not understand that the Elephant drinks water from her fish tank and turns her place upside down overnight… Lyubima does not see it, while the Elephant eats from her plate over breakfast... She does not have a clue, that the Elephant takes most of her bedroom, while she is asleep, but in her dream… In her dream she calls the Elephant for help… Her way to finally move on is by giving the love memories, along with the grief, back to her ex.

Director Biography

Maya Vitkova-Kosev is a writer-director and producer. In 2008 she executive produced Kamen Kalev's Eastern Plays, which premiered at the Cannes Directors' Fortnight. Maya directed and produced two shorts, written by the Golden Bear winner Radu Jude – Stanka Goes Home (2010) and My Tired Father (2011). Her debut film Viktoria (2014) was the first Bulgarian feature in competition at the Sundance Film Festival.

The film had more than 70 international selections and 10 awards, making it to number 4 of the best films of 2016 according to The New Yorker, whilst Vitkova-Kosev was pointed one of the five best directors in the world by the magazine:

www.newyorker.com/culture/cultural-comment/the-best-movies-of-2016

Maya Vitkova-Kosev was chosen an European Film Promotion’s “Producer on the Move” in Cannes (2014), she is an EAVE 2017 producer. Her feature film project Afrika was developed at the CineLink, the ScripTeast, the Sundance Screenwriters Lab and the TIFF Filmmaker Lab. Afrika won the “Krzysztof Kieslowski ScripTeast Award for the Best Eastern European Script” in Cannes and Maya Vitkova-Kosev was awarded a TIFF Canada Goose Fellowship.

Director Statement

As a filmmaker, I feel attracted to stories with a unique point of view, that unfold and manifest a new way of thinking and engaging the audience, while still happening into a common reality.

Lyubima has a miniature plot. It is the story of a woman caught by the end of her journey of fighting grief and anger after a relationship breakup, who is performing a subconscious ritual of setting herself free. And it is precisely this ritual that forms the finale of the film…

I worked with the D.O.P. Krum Rodriguez (Viktoria, The Lesson, Godless, Glory, The Father) on Lyubima. He has number of qualities, one of the most important being that all of his films look different. The Hollywood Reporter quotes him on our film Viktoria: “Krum Rodriguez’s beautifully composed, diffusely lit cinematography and the crisp soundscapes are the other below-the-line standouts.”. Rodriguez and I are a team, working on creating a mutual specific and recognizable style.

We stay true to some of the technical and artistic assets developed while doing Viktoria – shooting with mainly natural light, not afraid of being on the edge of darkness, as this is where the real movie’s “black” is, simple or no camera movement, wide shots when possible, close-ups and details only when needed, in order to have the feeling of something happening right in front of our eyes. Additionally, very detailed work on the sound – it is hard to create silence in a film, as it means building a rich atmosphere with more sounds than the average.

Lyubima is a short drama in which realistic narrative and naturalistic technique are combined with surreal (magical) elements of dream and fantasy.

Grief is a feeling everyone has or will experience one day. And Luybima is about grief... But it is also about overcoming grief and anger, and finding life back again. And that’s what I want – to show that there is light at the end of the tunnel – you only need to open your eyes...

I am passionate about this short film. I believe Lyubima will be beautiful inside and out.