Still Nia

synopsis

The fragility of identity and the difficulty of integrating it is shown in an empathetic portrait of a young woman who is searching for herself through artistic creation. Stephania lives in France but is originally from Romania, where as a child she suffered from a serious brain disease that dragged on for a long time, partly due to misdiagnosis. She is now painfully and laboriously returning to this period of her life, from which she had long been psychologically disconnected, through dance and creativity. The film connects us to her complicated position as a person disconnected from her own traumatic past by using a camera focused on detail and physicality, working with blurring, mirroring, and editing that alternates between Stephanie's monologues and her paintings, performances, and therapeutic dance. Adult Stephania ultimately has to summon little Nia through private rituals or play between her own body and the surrounding environment. Among other things, the film shows how strongly art can help us come to terms with who we are, even when we would rather not exist.

“Even if we are dealing with a documentary, the way the film is shaped is more like a cinematic dreaming experience than a pure doc.” — Ada Solomon, producer

Source: Business DocEurope

biography

Paula Onet is a Romanian director, cinematographer, and multimedia artist. Her short film As You Like It (2013), dedicated to a photography studio in the Romanian countryside, was screened at Karlovy Vary IFF. She also works on interactive installations and combines film and dance.

film details

director:	Paula Onet
producer:	Diana Caravia, Ada Solomon, Cédric Bonin
script:	Paula Onet
photography:	Paula Onet, Carmen Tofeni
editing:	Alexandra Diaconu
sound design:	Marius Leftarache