9:06

Colour, 35 mm
Slovenia, 2009, 71 min
Section: East of the West - Films in Competition

Synopsis

Police detective Dušan is investigating the death of a music teacher named Marjan Ozim – an orderly, middle-aged man who apparently left the world voluntarily, through careful, cold-blooded planning. The investigator becomes more and more obsessed with the case: he moves into the suicide’s apartment, mingles with his acquaintances, and takes on his habits. And he keeps digging deeper into the mystery of the dead man’s life, even getting to know his lover Milena. Dušan gradually takes on Marjan’s identity, fusing it with his own.... Igor Šterk’s movie begins as an ordinary crime drama and ends as a psycho-thriller about a journey to the dark depths of the soul. "In the time you watch the film at least 20 people will have committed suicide in Europe. And another 100 in the rest of the world,” comments the director on the stirring theme of his intimate psychological drama. "1.2 million people worldwide commit suicide every year. Slovenia is among five countries with the highest global suicide rate.”

About the director

Igor Šterk (b. 1968, Ljubljana, Slovenia) graduated from the Academy for Theater, Radio, Film, and Television at Ljubljana University. While still a student, he attracted attention with the documentary Postcards (Razglednice, 1989), which took Best Screenplay and the Special Prize for visual treatment at the Belgrade Short Film Festival. He debuted in features with Gone with the Train (Ekspres, Ekspres, 1996), which took a number of awards. The 37th Karlovy Vary IFF presented his second drama, Ljubljana (Lublaň, 2002), in the Forum of Independents section; three years later (2005), his psychological drama Tuning (Uglasevanije, 2005) was screened here in the main competition. Both Tuning and his latest film 9:06 (2009) were produced by the director.