Marija Apcevska

Writer-director

North Macedonia

Marija Apcevska has a BA in Directing from FDA, Skopje and MA in Film and Media Production, NYFA, Los Angeles. Her shorts travelled to festivals worldwide and won several awards. BARDO premiered at Berlinale while AMBI, apart from the festival circuit, was listed at Cineuropa’s Top 5 Shorts of 2017. Her new short, NORTH POLE was one of the winning projects at European Short Pitch 2019 and shooting has just finished. She is currently developing her first feature, SPRING CLEANING. She also works as director of TV series and advertising campaigns.

Project

Spring Cleaning

In the midst of the hottest summer, a prodigal daughter arrives back to her home town, for the first time in years. Suzana is a prison inmate serving time in Sweden and the reason for her temporary release is her mother’s suicide.
At the same time, peculiar events start evolving around the household and the backyard chicken coop. It seems like Vera has come back from the afterlife as well, in order to teach her daughter some lessons. Between the unbearable heat and buried grief, it might all be an illusion.
But for better or worse, this predicament is shared by yet a third person. Coincidentally, bound within the same walls is Lile, a police officer assigned to be Suzana’s escort and the house is simply too small for them all. Scrunched down under the heavy burden of prejudice and judgment, the mining town seems to shrink even more, as Suzana decides to take action and their lives slowly twist out of control and descend into mystery.