I am from Titov Veles

(I am from Titov Veles was at the Palm Springs International Film Festival in January and shown again here tonight as part of the Global Lens 2009 series.)

Have you ever been at a movie where only a few people walked out, but when it was over the audience lets out a huge sigh of relief? Well that was certainly the reaction tonight at the showing of "I am from Titov Veles" directed by Teona Mitevska as part of the Global Lens 2009 series at the Palm Springs Art Museum.

The story of three sisters who live in post-communist Macedonia (formerly Yugoslavia) in a town named after Joseph Tito where a factory is spewing out chemicals that are poisoning the inhabitants. Both parents are now dead and the adult-aged girls each in their own way are dealing with either leaving the town or finding new lives. None of which is happy. Drug addiction, sexual abuse, and depression fill this slowly moving story of heartbreak. Even the dreams are difficult.

I am sure that life in this part of the world is harsh, but it was a long 100 minutes that in the end did not produce any happiness.