Nina Roza Film Trailer Review: Geneviève Dulude-De Celles’ Entract Films Release Explored

The film “Nina Roza” by Geneviève Dulude-De Celles has been selected for the Berlinale competition, where it explores themes of art, exile, and immigrant identity through the story of a Bulgarian-born Montreal-based art expert who returns to his homeland to investigate a child prodigy.

The narrative follows Mihail, portrayed by theatre actor and director Galin Stoev, a 50-something curator working for a wealthy Canadian art dealer in Montreal. His assignment to investigate a young artist in Bulgaria triggers a deeply personal journey into self, memory, and the emotional dislocations of living between two worlds.

Dulude-De Celles, who previously won the Crystal Bear at Berlinale in 2017 for her debut feature “A Colony,” brings her signature sharp-edged lyricism to this second feature. The film unfolds in an elliptical style that invites viewers to engage with its emotional gaps and silences, mirroring the fragmented experience of diaspora, and return.

The story examines what it means to leave home and what it means to come back — not just geographically, but emotionally and spiritually. As noted in reviews, the film conveys the “strange, imprecise separation of the soul” that accompanies immigration: the sense of a phantom self left behind, living the life that might have been, and uncannily confronting the returnee upon return.

Alongside Stoev, the film features performances by Ekaterina and Sofia Stanina as the young artist and her sister, Chiara Caselli, Michelle Tzontchev, Christian Bégin, and Nikolay Mutafchiev. Christian Bégin also appears as the wealthy Canadian art dealer who employs Mihail in Montreal.

The film’s exploration of art and exile is central to its emotional core. Mihail’s search for a potential artistic genius — someone who might become “the next De Kooning or Picasso” — becomes a metaphor for his own lost potential and the creative identities sacrificed or transformed through displacement.

Produced by Montreal-based Colonelle Films, “Nina Roza” garnered recognition at the Locarno Pro Awards the previous year, winning two awards for post-production and marketing materials, signaling early industry acknowledgment of its craft and vision.

Critics have described the film as a “moving meditation on estrangement” and a “deeply moving reflection on immigrant identity.” Its opening sequences capture a profound sense of isolation, even in crowded spaces, drawing comparisons to the work of Chantal Akerman, particularly “Jeanne Dielman,” in their attention to the quiet weight of inner life.

Running 1 hour and 43 minutes, “Nina Roza” premiered in the Berlinale Competition in February 2026, where it was presented as an accomplished and original contribution to contemporary Quebecois and international cinema. The film continues the director’s examination of identity, belonging, and the subtle ways art can reveal what words cannot express.