In a world where today's warring parties are inexorably striving for mutual destruction, the individual who dares to oppose the more numerous and stronger, for the sake of principle, inspires change. Such a narrative carries a strong message and emphasizes humanity as the greatest victory over violence and destruction... The destruction that is happening in the world, and the rise of fascism on all sides, say that the film "Obraz" will be relevant.
So the director Nikola Vukcevic "Vijesta" describes and announces its own, as well as the Montenegrin, and then the world's, new feature film "Obraz".
Yesterday it was officially announced that the film "Face" will have its world premiere at the Cottbus Film Festival (Cottbus) in Germany on November 22.000, in the main competition program. The festival in question was described by the magazine "The Hollywood Reporter" as "the leading film festival of Eastern European cinema," with more than XNUMX visitors.
Like "Lord of the Rings"
"With his latest work, Nikola Vukčević managed to create a genre film full of tension, rich in elements of fantasy, sometimes resembling horror, with superb landscape shots and characters that could be compared to 'The Lord of the Rings,'" wrote the program director of the festival in Cottbus. Bernd Buder, a connoisseur of Balkan films and a former member of the selection team of the Festival in Berlin.
After Germany, the film will debut in front of the audience at the Cairo Film Festival, one of those from the A category, the largest and oldest film festival in the Arab world, the Middle East and Africa, in a prestigious parallel competition selection, with only 11 selected films from around the world .
"The film has already had its way to the public - through those two closed screenings at the Marche du film of the Cannes Festival. They were preceded by the fact that I didn't close my eyes before the first screening, because we accepted to go on stage where there is no protection, on a stage that will eat us if we don't do a good job. Then we were selected by Tallinn for representation in a selection of only five films in production from around the world. After those screenings, I have peace and with joy (but still with a dose of pleasant and sincere trepidation) I look forward to the further days of this film", said Vukčević, summing up the film's journey so far.
The multi-year process of work is no stranger to Montenegrin cinematographers, and this project, during its eight years, brought maturity to both the film itself and the author's team, according to the director.
"We matured, all together. Work on the film began eight years ago, the filming was done in five parts, five times, depending on how we secured the money, and all that time we edited the part that we have recorded. In the meantime, we were all affected by the corona virus, during one part of which the film was shot. Yes, we matured together and thanks to this film for that. And to all the great people who supported us. I thanked them by name at the closing credits of the film, with respect and gratitude," says Vukčević.
Based on the motives of a true event
As is already known, the plot of the film is inspired by the motifs of a true event, which was written by a Montenegrin academician in the anthology short story "Face". Zuvdija Hodzic, and they worked on the script Ana Vujadinović Tomić (Montenegro) and Melina Pota Kojević (Serbia), while director Vukčević was a collaborator on the script, which was developed at international workshops.
"The plot is inspired by elements of a true event, a kind of legend about Nur Doka, and is set during the Second World War, in an unnamed small town in Montenegro. During the 36 hours of the plot, a persecuted child, who lost his parents in an attack by a fascist paramilitary unit, finds refuge in the house of a complete stranger: the Albanian Nur Doka. Another important difference between them is obvious: the child is a Christian, while Nur is a Muslim - and in war-torn Yugoslavia, this fact at that moment means the border between life and death. According to everything, the owner of the house, Nur - is faced with a difficult moral dilemma - whether to hand over the child to the persecutors and thereby betray the centuries-old code of his home, saving the lives of his family and the house from destruction, or to risk the lives of his family almost in vain to protect the unknown a child of another religion and nation", the main producer of the film points out in the announcement Milorad Radenović iz Galileo production Montenegro.
According to Vukčević, the most difficult question for any director is to describe and announce the film himself. Nevertheless, he knows what motivated him to work on that story, and he believes that this is exactly what the viewers will feel...
"What has always motivated me is the individual who dares to stand up to the more numerous and stronger, for the sake of principle, and that is what I would urge people to look at in this film, which, as such, inspires change. In a world where today's warring parties inexorably strive for mutual destruction, this narrative carries a powerful message and emphasizes humanity as the greatest victory over violence and destruction. Unfortunately, the destruction that is happening in the world, and the rise of fascism on all sides, means that this film will be relevant", Vukčević tells Vijesti and repeats the sentence from the promotional poster of the film, which includes everything: "In times of war, being human becomes our most important mission".
Through a story about morality, love and growing up, Radenović adds, "Obraz" asks universal questions about the value of human sacrifice, regardless of religion and nation, and tells us that we need it at this moment.
"Through the journey of one individual who dares to oppose the right of the stronger, in a world where conflicting parties continue to relentlessly strive for mutual destruction, this film inspires change and strongly reminds us that humanity is our final victory over violence and decay," agreed Radenović. and he also adds that being human is the most important mission.
Germans and Arabs, later Balkans
Associate Producer Kristof Toke in front of the German production company Mogador, the film confirms the actuality of the achievement itself, but also the global need for such a story.
"The fact that "Obraz" is shown in Cottbus and Cairo, and later at some other major festivals, which will be announced later, shows that international selectors are interested in this deeply local theme. In the case of Bernd Buder, he is genuinely enamored with her, which to me is expected and obvious because Nicole's film works on many levels, dealing with universal human issues. Thus, instead of taking an activist stance, he approaches the viewer's soul in a poetic cinematic way. In that sense, the film is truly universal, even if sometimes it seems that the term may be worn out from overuse," Toke pointed out to Vijesti yesterday.
He also believes that audiences everywhere have a sense of deep humanity, overcoming divisions, differences and conflicts.
"This film resonates with universality and transcends cultural differences that are becoming less significant. I hope that "Obraz" will, in its humble way, contribute to bringing people together - both in real life and in the cinema. Let's give life and cinema another chance. We desperately need him", says the renowned German producer.
Confirmation of the achieved universality of the film language is also the fact that "Obraz" will be among the first to be seen by German and Arab audiences. In a way, that was the director's intention...
"From the start, it was important to me that the film be seen first by an audience that knows little about the Balkans, our historical destiny, that the film be viewed against the universal language and experiences of the characters, without their ethnic background. We invested a lot to make it happen. I am looking forward to what we will experience at the next five screenings in Cottbus and Cairo. I was lucky that my 'Boys' were at both of these festivals, that I was also there, so I know what awaits us there and I'm looking forward to it in advance", said Vukčević.
Radenović points out that the entire team is proud that "Obraz" was recognized by the selectors of these important festivals, which he sees as a confirmation of the value of the film they worked on for more than eight years.
"It is also an opportunity to promote Montenegrin cinematography and overall culture," he said.
The last film role
Zef Bat Dedivanović
The film was shot on locations in Stari Bar, Crmnica, the slopes of Kuča, the Mrtvice canyon... The numerous crew gathers international and regional actors, among whom are Montenegrin names such as Aleksandra Radulović, Branimir Popović, Ana Vučković, ali and doyenne Zef Bat Dedivanović for whom it is the last film role. He portrays the main character Edon Rizvanolli, to your i Nikola Ristanovski (North Macedonia), Igor Benčina (Serbia), alban ukaj (Bosnia and Herzegovina), Salman Yusufi i Xejlan Terbunja (Kosovo). During several weeks of casting, they got the roles of children Elez Adžović, Vuk Bulajić, Merisa Adžović i Hana Pavlovic.
The film was visually shaped by the director of photography Đorđe Stojiljković (Serbia), set designer is deceased Stanislav Nikičević (Montenegro), costume designer Lidija Jovanovic (Serbia), while he was in charge of music Dušan Maksimovski (Croatia). She is a film editor Olga Toni (Slovenia), and they created the visual effects Đuro Mihaljević (Montenegro) and Đorđe Stojiljković (Serbia); he signs the mask and make-up Nataša Sevčnikar (Slovenia). He is a sound designer and mixer Igor Vujović (Montenegro) with a Croatian colleague Dario Domitrović.
In the executive production are Milorad Radenović (Galileo production Montenegro) and Jelena Filipović (lecturer at FDU Cetinje). They are co-producers Nevena Savić i Ivica Vidanović from the Belgrade production company Cinnamon Films, Dario Domitrović from the Zagreb production Embrio, are associated producers Kristof Toke (Mogador film Germany) i Boris Raonic on behalf of RTVCG and their public tender.
"Obraz" was created under the auspices of the Film Center of Montenegro (FCCG) and in the international co-production of Montenegro, Serbia, Croatia and Germany, with the co-financial support of public competitions, since 2017: the Ministry of Culture of Montenegro, the Film Center of Montenegro, the Film Center of Serbia, the Croatian Audiovisual Center, Radio and Television of Montenegro and the support of the Center for the Preservation and Development of the Culture of Minorities of Montenegro CEKUM, and it was also supported at the co-production competition in Serbia 2020.
From the Galileo production company, they point out that there were quite a few Montenegrin colleagues behind the camera, namely: Nemanja Lakić, Budimir Bečić, Dejan Vuković, Nikola Čavor, Farah Ademović, Darko Bjelobrković, Majdana Ljuljđuraj, Đoko Jablan, Niko Tripunović, Boris Vuković, Ilija Kaluđerović, Bojana Kojičić, Mila Nenezić, Dunja Sekulović, Nataša Milićević, Mila Čelebić, Milica i Maša Vujadinović, Balša Dabetić, Strahinja Vuković, Goran Živković...
Bonus video:
