Not a Thing

directed by Fanni Szilagyi

Preview Screening
Hungary | 2021 | 90 mins
Narrative Feature

Synopsis

Éva and Adele (both played by Natasa Stork) are identical twins in their thirties. They couldn’t be more different, Éva living in apparent prosperity, with a successful and rich husband and a beautiful baby, and Adele being a workaholic, who rarely has romantic relationships.

Their lives turn upside down when they meet Ákos. He is everything they aren’t and he becomes their object of desire. 

Credits

Director: Fanni Szilagyi
Writer: Zsófi Lányi
Producers: Ági Pataki, Edina Kenesei
Key Cast: Natasa Stork (“Eva/Adele”)

Screening schedule

This film is available to watch online from October 17th—23rd 2022 (from the United States only)

Language

Hungarian with English subtitles

Genre

Narrative Feature

About the Director

Fanni Szilagyi graduated from the University of Theatre and Film Arts Budapest as Cinematographer in 2013, and as Film Director with a master’s degree in 2015. She won the Best Hungarian Short Film Award for The End of Puberty at the Friss Hús Film Festival. This film was also in competition at Toronto (TIFF). In 2016 she won the Hungarian Film Critics Award.

Director’s Statement

What greatly concerned me was the fact that such a close relationship between identical twins could fall apart due to tensions generated by society. The phenomenon of social comparison is timelier than ever. In social media, we experience it on a daily basis why we are worth less than others: we are not on holiday right now, we have no kids, we do not have a great figure or a healthy paleo cheesecake to eat, and we do not even have the time to prepare it.

Éva and Adél are identical twins, although their relationship has not been very close for a long time. Among the girls, the roles have always been distributed: Éva was the charming, kind, and funny girl, while Adél was the smart one, who was to accomplish much in life. Boys always fell in love with Éva, while Adél was the one who got straight A’s in school…

Their problems are seen only from the inside since if we look at the wider picture, we see healthy and strong women who live a full life. However, if we go really close, we see their story through their eyes and learn how painful it can be in their shoes.

This story is about breaking down the walls and witnessing the rebirth of a relationship. What I became interested in when exploring the magical bond between the twins was the point in their life when superficial problems became meaningless given the gravity of the matter. They grow close to each other again when strengths and weaknesses do not matter anymore. This is when they suddenly see into each other’s soul, and the lost and newly found twin magic empowers these wonderful women to be the master of their own destiny.