1880. The wonder of electricity holds the worlds attention. At the same time a poor women in Budapest gives birth to two daughters, which she names Lili and Dóra. After the death of her mother, the two twins are separated and make their own paths into the 20th century. Lili fights as an anarchist und feminist for a more just society, while the hedonistic Dóra seduces and exploits wealthy men. Only the encounter with an enigmatic man, who thinks both women are the same person, reunites the sisters.
Through the different fates of Lili and Dóra (whose names reference the silent movie icons Lillian and Dorothy Gish) illustrates the Hungarian directress Ildikó Enyedi in her directorial debut the dreams and hopes of the young 20th century. Winking with an eye and with much love for detail, she shows the hights and depths of the time period, defined by science and pseudo science, evolutionary and revolutionary though. With his expressionistic black and white imagery and his fairy tale atmosphere, My 20th Century becomes an homage to the magic of early cinema
Mischa Haberthür
