The Houses of Hristina (2007)

Overview

Hristina is invisible. Quiet and unnoticed, she cleans houses. Each day a different house each day the same work. She is a Bulgarian, living in Amsterdam. Contact with her employers takes place mainly through notes. To come to terms with her life, she takes photographs of the interiors of 'her' houses. Together these photos form the house she inhabits in the Netherlands. A house that holds her prisoner. In this film documentary director Suzanne Raes portrays one of the many, often anonymous, people, ranging from cleaner to au pair, that we allow into the most intimate places of our lives. Hristina's account of her life, her view of herself and the world around her, is a mirror for us. Our houses are the setting of her life, the place she got lost in, where she got stuck. Who are these people cleaning our homes? Do we really want to know?

Keywords