"Matroesjka's" (2005)TV series

Directors:

Guy Goossens
Mark Punt

Writer:

Mark Punt (writer)

Release Date:

5 January 2005 (Belgium)

Genre:

Crime | Drama

Tagline:

Just dancing, they said.

Plot Keywords:

Human Trafficing | Brothel | Eastern Europe | Human Exploitation | Prostitution

Cast

Peter Van den Begin	...	Raymond Van Mechelen
Mark Van Eeghem	...	Marc Camps
Wim Opbrouck	...	Mike Simons
Luk Wijns	...	Eddy Stoefs
Axel Daeseleire	...	Jan Verplancke
Frank Aendenboom	...	John Dockx
Tom Van Dyck	...	Vincent Dockx
Stany Crets	...	Clem De Donder
Hilde Heijnen	...	Laura Keyser
Lucas van den Eijnde	...	Nico Maes
Veerle De Jonghe	...	Esther Van De Walle
Manou Kersting	...	Danny Bols
Ailika Kremer	...	Eva
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Bert André	...	Henri Boon
Zemyna Asmontaite	...	Daria
Warre Borgmans	...	Dokter Van Looy
Sophie Decleir	...	Lut Jones
Tom De Hoog
Karel Deruwe	...	Agent
Damiaan De Schrijver	...	Ludo Gulinck
Vic de Wachter	...	Editor-in-chief
Ludo Hellinx	...	Nelson Nilis
Ludo Hoogmartens	...	Pedro
Indre Jaraite	...	Inesa
Dainius Kazlauskas	...	Arnas Jarasunas
Yevgeniya Khirivskaya	...	Kalinka
Rasa Kirkilionyte	...	Mother of Daria
Liubomiras Lauciavicius	...	Borzov
Mila Lipner	...	Deborah
Chris Lomme	...	Monique Wilson
Andy Lucas	...	Stavros
Marilou Mermans	...	Vivianne De Donder
Vidas Petkevicius	...	Father Daria
Vilma Raubaite	...	Kasandra
Peter Thyssen	...	Rudi Sierens
Lyubov Tolkalina	...	Olga (as Liuba Tolkalina)
Saar Vandendriessche	...	Dancer Sita
Greta Van Langhendonck	...	Buurvrouw
Jan Van Looveren	...	Peter Jones
Svetlana Vladimirovna	...	Luna
Ronny Waterschoot	...	Chief Van Hout
Cela Yildiz	...	Greek trader (2005)
Denise Zimmerman	...	Buurvrouw van Mike

Also Known As:

Matrioshki (International: English title)

Runtime:

Belgium:50 min (10 episodes)

Country:

Belgium

Language:

Dutch | Flemish | English | Lithuanian | Russian

Colour:

Colour

Certification:

Belgium:KT | Argentina:16 | Finland:K-15

Filming Locations:

Belgium

Company:

Independent Productions

Trivia:

The Belgian makers couldn't understand the language the girls were speaking, so they had to hire some translators to verify if the girls were following the script.

Very difficult subject - and a well done series

This fine Belgian series deals with an issue that has become so common in today's Europe. Eastern European girls and women are promised a decent job in the West, but they end up as prostitutes. Girls' credulity and and poor conditions in homeland lead its victims into modern slave trade business. It will be very easy to guess where the word 'slave' has come as it did not originally mean 'slave'.

Girls who have ended up into business have no other chance than to obey their masters and this is also shown in the series. There are however some cunning girls who attempt to escape their fate, but not much is there to do. Girls also have different attitudes towards their work. Yes - there are some, like a Russian girl named Kalinka, who don't think it's eventually bad to become stripper, if they have it no way better at home. But there are also girls like Lithuanian Daria, who is totally against the business and only wants to get back home. Some girls think they have found a boyfriend in their pimps, but are unfortunately mistaken. They all realize before long that they are just used for the business like batteries and then thrown away.

I've never seen anything like this on television and it may well be my first Belgian series I ever seen. Matroesjka's category is crime, but it presents the crime from victims viewpoint. It gives a completely different view to the world of prostitution than Boogie Nights does., though both are great in their own sense. Matroesjka's does not contain moralizing overtones, for it just tells a plain story of these women. There are even found 'goodies' in the pimps too, or lesser evils anyway. Everything in Matroesjka's is very enjoyable viewing, for some of the girls are really cool when they try to rise above their inhuman conditions.