Perla

Perla, a gifted artist with an equally talented musical daughter, lives a comfortable life in Vienna in the early 1980s. Together with Julia and her new partner Josef, she builds a quiet existence and seems to have left the traumas of her youth in communist Czechoslovakia behind her. But when Julia's father unexpectedly contacts her to tell her that he is seriously ill, Perla decides to return to her homeland. Behind the Iron Curtain, old traumas await, but unexpectedly, nostalgic feelings also bubble up. As Perla becomes increasingly entangled in her past, the bond with her daughter threatens to break. Can she break free from what was, or will she lose herself again? Perla is a layered and human portrait of identity, motherhood and the psychological toll of life in diaspora. Director Alexandra Makarová brings to life an intimate family story, inspired by her own roots and by resilient women finding their way in a patriarchal world. With strong performances, atmospheric images and elegant 80s costumes, she makes the impact of the past palpable in the present — a timely story in a time where displacement and intergenerational trauma are still playing a role.