Enslaved

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Enslaved

Short Film, 15 min

Bulgaria, 2018

1st Ac

Synopsis

'Enslaved' is a story about a Elena, a young woman captured by the Turkish Janissaries. Together with five other girls, she's enslaved and locked in a cell. For the girls it’s either the acceptance of a life in slavery, or a desperate fight for their freedom. This legend is well-known by many Bulgarians, many of whom grew up with the story of The Cape.

However, it seemed that no one had ever thought about the background of these young women, enslaved by the Janissaries. Where did they come from? How did they end up being trapped? This film shows the cruel intentions of the Ottoman janissaries and the strong spirit of the young Bulgarian women during XVII century.

The Project

The film is shot in an 4:3 aspect ratio to entrap the viewer with the girls, and uses a very shallow depth of field to convey a further sense of confusion. Together with Cinematographer Awi Rabelista, I made the decoupage and lighting setups which proved to be quite challenging since set was so small in size. The film features a lot of long takes and nice subdued hues due to the use of vintage lenses originating from the Soviet Union. All was shot on a RED weapon in 4k and delivered in 2k.