PODCAST| Matt Micucci interviews Milko Lazarov, director of the film Ága.
Director Milko Lazarov presented his second feature, Ága, in the competition of the 2018 Macao International Film Festival. The film appears to take place in an Innuit community – yet it is all from the imagination of the director himself, who through this story tries to paint a more universal picture, a metaphor for the last people on earth and themes that remind us of family, love and the apocalypse. We talk about all this in our interview with him, as well as his choice to shoot the film in 35mm and the challenges to film in a dangerous, icy setting. Lazarov also discusses the reason why it took him five years to complete a new film, following his acclaimed 2013 award-winning feature debut Alienation.
Ága: In a yurt on the snow-covered fields of the North, Nanook and Sedna live following the traditions of their ancestors. Alone in the wilderness, they look like the last people on Earth. Nanook and Sedna’s traditional way of life starts changing – slowly, but inevitably. Hunting becomes more and more difficult, the animals around them die from inexplicable deaths and the ice has been melting earlier every year. Chena, who visits them regularly, is their only connection to the outside world – and to their daughter Ága, who has left the icy tundra a long time ago due to a family feud. When Sedna’s health deteriorates, Nanook decides to fulfill her wish. He embarks on a long journey to find Ága.
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