Controlled Breaths of Air

Margaritka - 70 years old is the mother of Nevena and Borislava. In the eighties of the last century, as a student of mechanical engineering, she married a Stalin colleague of the same institute after he raped her and she became pregnant. She must marry the person who raped her so she is not the mother of an illegitimate child. Stalin thinks it is commonplace to beat his pregnant wife daily and cruelly. But Margaritka, in order to maintain her status in society and not be the bearer of the shameful definition of a "divorced woman", must learn to tolerate the pain and daily violence and to conceal it from both relatives and neighbors who hear, see and know about violence, but do not interfere to stop it. Nevena is a 37 year old woman. She works in the Plovdiv municipality as an engineer, but because of the cruel violence that the child's father uses over her, she has to be constantly hiding in crisis centers. When Nevena is ten, the whole family goes to the Soviet Union, where her parents are posted. The father is one of the most respected specialists, a research associate, from whose knowledge new plants are being put into operation. He is the perfect co-worker and worker for whom everyone has the highest opinion. At home, after closing the front door he tosses his wife and one daughter to death. He does not beat his other daughter - Borislava. But she is not as strong as to endure the "unusual practice" of family relationships, and before she becomes eighteen she has to go to psychiatry. Borislava 35 years old is a young woman, incurably mentally ill and lives enclosed in a room with special facilities in your own home. They are made to stop future suicide attempts after the first, fortunately unsuccessful. Following the divorce of Mother and Margaritka with Stalin, the younger sister is changing and by becoming a very good student she becomes a mentally retarded being, who must be 24 hours a day cared for by her mother or sister.The three women, with Nevena's son, Nikki, are trying to continue their journey in life.