Love Is Not an Orange
In the early 1990’s, women left Moldova in large numbers to provide for their families. Unable to return home, they found a peculiar way to stay in touch: sending large cardboard boxes filled with gifts and food that could only be dreamt of in those days. In return, their children would send videotapes. This exchange became a ritual for thousands of families. Video cameras and presents allowed these mothers and children to give each other glimpses into their realities. Through these intimate private archives, Otilia Babara depicts the fragility of family bonds strained by distance that a generation of mothers and daughters were forced to endure to survive. While doing so, she portrays a post-soviet country caught in the crossroads of history; a country whose women were unwittingly put in charge of making the transition from communism to capitalism.
Otilia Babara is a documentary filmmaker from Moldova, currently based in Brussels. She holds a degree in documentary filmmaking from the DocNomads European Master program (Belgium, Hungary, Portugal), and is a 2013 Berlinale Talents fellow. She directed and produced the short films Irene (2015), selected for several international film festivals, and Women on Canvas (2009), awarded at the Astra and Cronograf Film Festivals. She is drawn to those who usually go unnoticed. Her films expose big wounds hidden in small details. She's fascinated by the untold stories of women.
