Perla

• Date:
• Time: Time depends on the day
• Location: Filmhuis Den Haag

A penetrating family portrait about identity, motherhood and the shadow of a past that never truly disappears.

Perla, a gifted artist with an equally talented daughter who is a musician, leads a comfortable life in early 1980s Vienna. Together with her daughter Julia and her new partner Josef, she is building a quiet existence and seems to have left behind the traumas of her childhood in communist Czechoslovakia.But when Julia’s father unexpectedly reaches out to tell them he is seriously ill, Perla decides to return to her homeland. What begins as a farewell turns into a confronting journey through old wounds and unresolved memories. As Perla becomes increasingly entangled in her past, her bond with her daughter begins to fray. Can she break free from what was, or will she lose herself once again?

Perla is a layered and deeply human portrait of identity, motherhood, and the psychological toll of life in diaspora. Director Alexandra Makarová brings an intimate family story to life, inspired by her own roots and the resilient women navigating a patriarchal world. Through powerful performances and atmospheric visuals, she lets the impact of the past reverberate into the present—telling a timely story in an era where displacement and intergenerational trauma are still deeply felt.

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