CAT IN THE WALL
/Bulgaria/UK/France/
Original title: CAT IN THE WALL
French title: Le Chat dans le Mur
Bulgarian title: Котка в стената
Year of production: 2019
92 min
Colour
DCP: 1.85-ratio-25 fps
1998/1080 resolution
ISAN number: 0000-0005-6C2D-0000-C-0000-0000-1
Logline
CAT IN THE WALL tells the true story of how a cat, stuck in a wall, changes the lives of aspirational migrants, benefit fraudsters and gentrified Brexiteers.
Synopsis:
Life on a council estate in Brexit London - gentrification plans bring astronomic bill for homeowners and aggravate the community. In the eye of the storm Irina, a Bulgarian single mother, tries to breakthrough as an architect and refuses to live on benefits like most of her neighbours. She galvanizes the homeowners to appeal against bill with the Council but the English assure her that any attempt to fight the system is doomed. Irina’s family and people living on benefits clash over the ownership of a cat. А different side of British society is revealed to her and she realises she is trapped in the walls of her property and metaphorically in her mind. She takes a drastic decision to change her life.
Directors’ statement
“Cat in the Wall” set on a council estate in modern day London deals with the impossible relationship between migrants and locals, and the threat gentrification brings to communities living on social welfare.
Media manipulations on the eve of Brexit caused a sharp increase in racist violence and hate speech throughout Britain especially towards economic migrants. I, Mina Mileva have been an economic migrant there for more than 20 years. I’m in love with Britain and its famous culture of acceptance, tolerance and humour. I escaped the ugly face of post-Communist Capitalism in Bulgaria and have enjoyed professional fulfillment on the island. For me this film is lamenting the loss of compassion and normality that I first found there.
The script is based on my personal experience and events taking place in my neighbourhood. An astronomic service charge bill and a row about a stolen cat characterized the absurd situation I have found myself in and provided for unusual narrative. With Vesela we decided to stay in one place, one apartment. These semi-claustrophobic settings helped us study the nuanced process of dehumanization. A process spiced up with every-day-racism and prejudices and deeply caused by fear of loosing social assets.
One of the most important challenges for us as directors was to preserve the authenticity of events and people from that enclave and to represent it correctly. We choose a combination of actors and non-actors and lead them through a demanding casting and rehearsal process in order to preserve the life like feel.
Co-producers:
Glasshead Ltd is an Independent British TV, film and video company formed in 1994. Before setting up Glasshead Mr Atteshlis worked as a TV Producer at the BBC for 10 years and also spent time at Wall to Wall TV and Prospect Pictures. Glasshead has built a reputation for consistently delivering to an outstanding quality. Their wide-ranging output includes documentaries and factual entertainment series, children’s dramas, animations and innovative multi-platform projects. Already acknowledged with a raft of awards including two BAFTAs (The British Academy of Film and Television Arts), two BIMAs (Interactive Media Association), an RTS (Royal Television Society), the Japan Prize, an IVCA and the UK Future Internet award.
Ici et Là Productions is a French production company founded in 2013 by Christophe Bruncher. Here and there geographically as much as editorially, it develops, finances, produces and coproduces an eclectic line-up of original feature films for the international market, from experimental to larger audience driven films. In 2017 were released PARIS PRESTIGE by Hamé & Ekoué (debut film from the hip hop band La Rumeur) and MR STEIN GOES ONLINE by Stéphane Robelin.
Christophe Bruncher started his career as a producer in 2005, working with actress-director Isild Le Besco as partner to Paris-based production company Sangsho, which he managed up until 2007. He thus took his first steps into feature film production with L’INTOUCHABLE by Benoit Jacquot (premiering at Venice Film Festival in 2006) and CHARLY, the second film by Isild Le Besco, released in France in 2007.
Christophe is also one of the founding members of Les Films de la Butte, a production company where he developed and produced ET SI ON VIVAIT TOUS ENSEMBLE? by Stéphane Robelin. He managed to bring together an exceptional cast, most notably making Jane Fonda to return to French cinema after 40
years of absence. The film made its premiere at the Locarno Film Festival (Piazza Grande).
