When Valentina Iusuphodjaev became the head of the Moldovan National Film Center last year, she described the activity in the local film industry as “sporadic” (see our interview), and indeed, there are years when not even one single feature is produced in the country. In this context, using the word “prolific” to describe a local production company is a bit of a stretch, but Sergiu Cumatrenco Jr’s Youbesc is definitely the most visible local entity: the firm’s movie Carbon (see the news) will be participating in the New Directors competition at San Sebastián, and the company’s newest feature, Anatol Durbală’s Varvara, will be presented in the festival’s industry platform, WIP Europa.

With a budget of circa €600,000, Varvara is being produced by Youbesc (Moldova), Pascaru Production (Moldova), Maya Films Studio (Romania), Badeamic (Moldova) and Youbesc Aya (Romania).

The screenplay, written by Durbală, follows Sasha (Tudor Ţurcan), a man working for the national natural gas company. Sasha’s wife gives birth to a premature baby, and the doctors suggest that expensive treatment in Germany could increase the newborn’s chances of survival. But even if he desperately needs the money, Sasha still refuses to accept bribes, which leads to friction with his colleagues. One day, the protagonist is asked to install a boiler in a church, but for this, he has to deface a valuable icon of Saint Barbara painted on the church’s wall. Soon, Sasha realises he can go to great lengths in order to save the sacred image…

The film was supported by the Moldovan National Film Center. Varvara was shot over 41 days between November 2021 and March 2022. Ivan Grincenco is the DoP. Igor Caras-Romanov, Olga Anghelici, Alexandru Rusu, Margareta Nazarvhevici and Constantin Haret play supporting characters.

Producer Sergiu Cumatrenco Jr tells Cineuropa that the film’s production faced serious issues during the pandemic, as many of the necessary locations were in local institutions that had literally shut down. Faced with so many closed doors, production was postponed for almost a year. The producer also says that “while its story is culturally specific, I believe Varvara will engage audiences with its comic and absurd situations, elements that can make the film accessible globally”.

Anatol Durbală says that even though his protagonist almost never goes to church, he is not able to destroy the Saint Barbara mural. “His conflict may seem insignificant, but it is propped up by essential questions – not about religion, the church or priests, or whether or not we must believe in God or anyone else. This story is not about right or wrong, but about how much we can neglect some things that define us as human beings.”

Varvara will be released in Moldova next year.