Serafima Serafimova
There are films that resonate and then there are those that feel too close to home – In the Cold Quiet falls into the latter category. Set in Bulgaria, the country where I was born and grew up, I found myself watching Kemi Anna Adeeko’s entire film perched at the very edge of my seat. Partly because of the excitement I felt at hearing my native tongue spoken by a Black actor, and partly because I dreaded the film’s plot would be inevitably shaped around racism.
But while oppression and discrimination are never far from the surface, Adeeko’s film is first and foremost a love story. Inspired by the director’s Nigerian parents, who met in Bulgaria in the final years of the Communist regime, this 14-minute drama – commissioned by Amazon Prime Video and made in collaboration with NFTS – celebrates the unexpected moments of camaraderie and happiness in a time of segregation and hatred. In the Cold Quiet is an emotionally intelligent drama that warms the heart with its positive takeaway without denying the dark historical context behind its story, making for an affecting and memorable watch.
“I wanted to include a fusion of cultures from the Bulgarian design/language to the Nigerian inspired music”
Set in Bulgaria in 1988, the story follows Fisayo, a young Nigerian woman who secretly hosts illegal weekly bible meetings in her home. One evening, Dele, a fellow Nigerian student known for his rebellious and revolutionary spirit, joins the group. Despite their clashing views on how to survive in a country which doesn’t want them, their shared experience leads to an unexpected romantic spark.
When we asked Adeeko about the film’s inspiration, the director told us about her parents who left their towns in Nigeria to pursue university degrees in Bulgaria. “It was really important for me to see the context of the difficult conditions Black Christians in communist Bulgaria would’ve felt but championing romance and belonging above all of that”, Adeeko shared with S/W. Adding that she wanted “the warmth in the interior” to intentionally juxtapose “the cool exterior”, amplifying the sense of belonging that Dele experiences when he finds Fisayo. “I (also) wanted to include a fusion of cultures from the Bulgarian design/language to the Nigerian inspired music – each element reflected layers of my cultural identity”, Adeeko concludes.
Gabrielle Oke (L) & Daniel Adeosun star as Fisayo & Dele.
I have a bit of a love-hate relationship with my home country – perhaps better described as a mix of pride and shame. I’m proud of the values my Eastern European upbringing instilled in me, but I also feel a deep sense of shame knowing that racism has always been prevalent there. What I admire about Adeeko is the fact that she chose not to show it but allude to it instead, and this is where In the Cold Quiet is at its best – when hinting at the horrors hidden beneath the surface.
We never see anyone approach Dele when he was outside the building block, but we saw him looking nervously around. We didn’t see the policeman being especially aggressive towards Fisayo, but we saw how terrified she was of him. This unseen but ever present threat, emphasised by the tense score, reveals a bigger truth about the treatment of Black people during that time. Adeeko understood that handling a heavy subject with a light touch would be just as effective – if not more so – than explicitly portraying the full extent of the violence and hate the director’s parents would’ve undoubtedly experienced.
In the Cold Quiet is an arresting piece that celebrates love blossoming in a place of hate. And although we only see the beginning of this love story, thanks to the very existence of Adeeko, we know that it will have a happy ending.