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Katia's Sister
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Wikipedia article
'Katia's Sister' (Dutch: 'Het Zusje van Katia') is a 2008 film directed by Mijke de Jong. It was adapted by Jan Eilander and Jolien Laarman from a 2001 novel written by Andrs Barba. The film premiered at the Netherlands Film Festival and won two Golden Calf awards.
Plot
Lucia is a young woman living in Amsterdam. She idolises her beautiful older sister Katia, who is drifting towards the sex industry. Their mother is from Russia and works as a sex worker in the red-light district.
Cast
* Betty Qizmolli as Lucia, Katia's sister
* Julia Seijkens as Katia
* Olga Louzgina as the mother of Lucia and Katia
* Ian Bok as John Turner
Production
The film was adapted by Jan Eilander and Jolien Laarman from the 2001 novel 'La hermana de Katia' by Andrs Barba, moving the setting from Madrid to Amsterdam. It was the second in a trilogy of films directed by Mijke de Jong about young women becoming adults. She commented that "all my films are about showing characters compassionately".
It premiered on 25 September 2008 at the Stadsschouwburg in Utrecht during the Netherlands Film Festival. At the festival, the film was nominated for six awards, winning the Golden Calf for Best Script and the Golden Calf for Best Supporting Actress. It won the Silver Giraldillo, a prize worth 30,000 euros, at the Seville European Film Festival. The film was also nominated for a Golden Leopard and won the Special Mention Award from the Youth Jury at the Locarno International Film Festival.
The worldwide takings for the film were $6,751.
Critical response
The response of Dutch films critics was mixed. NU.nl preferred the book to the film, whilst conceding that it is hard to film the world of the sex worker. 'Volkskrant' praised how de Jong depicted the complicated relationships between the two sisters and their mother. 'De Filmkrant' was impressed by the "sophisticated film-making" of de Jong and VPRO noted that what could have been a harrowing tale in the same way as 'Lilya 4-ever' was instead a "sensitive and restrained" story.
Internationally, 'The Hollywood Reporter' praised the direction of de Jong and the acting of Qizmolli, calling the film an "observant snapshot" of a young woman's life.
References
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