Poster design by Studio Frith

“This is not a social drama, it is rather, I hope, a funny and cruel fable.” – Ariane Labed

Greek-French actress and film director, Ariane Labed, made her directorial debut with a short feature titled ‘Olla’. Olla is the name of the orange-haired Slavic protagonist who is rechristened as Lola by her new husband. Like her name, her French husband – who lives with his mother – wants to slowly start claiming and owning more and more of his mail-order bride. Olla, however, reclaims her independence while keeping the audience thoroughly on the edge by her radical rebellion.

What I loved most about the movie is its sheer unpredictability. Each minute of the 27 minutes felt compelling to me. You can watch the movie on Mubi worldwide. You can also read this introduction of the movie by Labed herself.