Made in EU by Stephan Komandarev (2025)

Watched by Matthew Donlan

The COVID-19 pandemic is a collective period of our lives that many would rather forget. During the time of lockdowns and social distancing, we wondered when it would all go 'back to normal'. We asked if mask-wearing was the new normal.

Six years later and we no longer have snap lockdowns, friend-bubbles, state border closures or draconian quarantine rules. You could say things are back to normal. But we know that's not true. Everything just feels that bit off. Things aren't the way they used to be, and they never will be. Because what happened in those first few months (and years) of the pandemic was a seismic shock to our psyche. Death tolls reached incomprehensible levels. We were stripped so quickly of our civil liberties. Livelihoods were ruined. Formative years taken away from us. Our growth was stunted.

March 2020 was the 'mask-off' moment. Sentiments of division, mistrust, vitriol, scepticism, fear and hatred had been bubbling under the surface for a while in society. But when we all ran to the supermarkets elbowing our neighbours to stock up on toilet paper or gave the strongest glare to someone who coughed one too many times, the true nature of ourselves emerged. Selfishness was re-branded as 'looking out for my family'. Rudeness was re-defined as 'asserting my rights'. Ignorance was re-labelled as 'doing my own research.'

Made in EU, the latest film by Bulgarian director Stephan Komandarev, explores this early time of the pandemic, where friends became enemies overnight. In a rural town of Bulgaria, single-mother Iva works in a textile factory. In cramped conditions she is forced to work 12-hour days to barely earn a survivable wage. Her teenage son, an unsuccessful YouTuber, is eager to move to Germany with his girlfriend, where brighter futures are promised by the European Union. The town’s economy is precarious, offering little for the next generation. Residents can either work in the mines, where they face dangers like that which took the life of Iva’s husband, or the textile factory managed by an Italian magnate.

Iva feels unwell but is forbidden from taking sick leave so goes to work. After collapsing and being taken to hospital, Iva discovers she has the new airborne disease, COVID-19. The first diagnosis for the town, Iva becomes the centre of a local media scandal as the town takes increasingly desperate measures to remain safe. As the death toll climbs, Iva becomes the victim of a vicious blame campaign to ostracise her.

Made in EU unfolds on the small scale. Like a Ken Loach or Mike Leigh film, Made in EU is a social realist piece that explores how the individual is affected by uncontrollable forces. It places the protagonist in situations of hardship that we can easily conceive as happening to us. Iva is caught in the tide of things happening to her, with very little time to process and respond. Komandarev is adept at re-creating this tense, distrusting atmosphere of March 2020, and even though we sit on the high horse of hindsight now, it’s important to remember just how much of an over-reaction occurred back then.

Komandarev imbues this film with a seething anger. With a restrained camera and paired back score, this anger is contained to the story itself. It seeks to call out the hypocrisy and manipulation of truth that swirls in our society. From Iva’s colleagues who turn on their friend to save their own jobs to the media who sensationalise the drama at a victim’s expense to the easily corrupted health officials to the elite business owners who use their staff like machines. No one is safe from the double standards that were applied during the crisis.

This notion extends to the film’s secondary (albeit weaker) exploration of Bulgaria’s place within the European Union. Sitting at “the periphery of the periphery” as one character puts it, Bulgaria is the lowest income member of the EU. Its economy is highly dependent on the richest European nations for exports and investment. The film attempts to call out the economic hypocrisy of the EU too by seeding cynicism throughout. Iva’s doctor epitomises this when he warns Iva’s son against idealising the western nations. While an intriguing theme (and one which may not sit well with EU-defenders) the film’s coda undermines its strong pervasiveness with a cruel irony.

The COVID-19 pandemic is a collective period of our lives that many would rather forget. But by doing so we ignore the truth of what happened. Of who suffered and who gained from such an immense crisis. Made in EU seeks to rectify that and sits amongst a small catalogue of contemporary films to explore the nastiness of those haunting years.

Made in EU is screening at the Europa! Europa! Film Festival at the Ritz Randwick.

Pick of the Week
This week I suggest you go see one of my favourite films, Climax directed by Gaspar Noe. After the sangria is spiked with LSD, a group of French dancers trapped in their rehearsal space experience unimaginable horrors. With a pulsing score, phenomenal choreography and camerawork to match, this is an unforgettable watch! Climax screens on Saturday and Monday at the Ritz.

New Releases

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• Sirat (Oliver Laxe)
• The Testament of Ann Lee (Mona Fastvold)
• Scream 7 (Kevin Williamson)
• Twenty One Pilots: More Than We Imagined (Mark Eshleman)