Lust

In her working life as a prison psychologist, Lilian deals with criminals who have experienced a lot. She herself is equally full of secrets, as it seems, a woman strongly led by her perception and intellect while keeping others and their emotions at a distance. A woman who doesn’t say much and yet takes decisive actions, usually in a trenchcoat, quite motionless. When her estranged father dies, she returns home to Bulgaria; in the flat he has left her together with his debts, she encounters an amazing snake and her own extreme lust, which has long been held in check by a celibacy pact. The knots and ties come undone during the act of shibiri, and liberation begins. Incredibly precise in cinematic, psychological and narrative terms alike, this headstrong second feature put together by Golden Leopard winner Ralitza Petrova (GODLESS) is subtle and formally rigorous as it plays with genres, bodies and psyches. Carried by Lilian’s unfathomable character, played by the amazing Snejanka Mihaylova, Lust is a search for abstract joy and contains infinite suspense. (Barbara Wurm)

Ralitza Petrova, born 1976, studied film and video art at the University of the Arts London and fiction directing at the UK’s National Film and Television School (NFTS). Her short films have earned wide acclaim at Cannes, Berlin, Locarno, and Toronto. In 2016, her debut feature Godless premiered at the Locarno Film Festival, where it won the Golden Leopard for Best Film, followed by 27 further awards, including a nomination for European Discovery – Prix FIPRESCI (2017) from the European Film Academy. Her sophomore feature, Lust, will premiere at the 76th Berlinale Forum.

Director Ralitza Petrova. Screenplay Ralitza Petrova. Cinematography Julian Atanassov. Editing Per Kirkegaard (co-editor: Ralitza Petrova). Sound Design Carlos E. Garcia. Production Design Vanina Geleva. Costumes Elena Stoyanova. Make-Up Magdalena Hristova. Casting Nina Boyanova. Producers Ralitza Petrova, Nikolay Todorov, Poli Angelova. Executive Producers Ralitza Petrova, Nikolay Todorov, Poli Angelova. Co-Producers Eva Jakobsen, Mikkel Jersin, Katrin Pors, Anna Byvald. Production companies Aporia Filmworks (Sofia, Bulgaria), Screening Emotions (Sofia, Bulgaria). With Snejanka Mihaylova, Nikola Mutafov, Mihail Milchev, Alexis Atmadjov.

World sales Inwave Films

Films (selection): 2007: Rotten Apple (short film). 2009: By the Grace of God. 2016: Godless. 2019: Better Nature (short film). 2026: Lust.