War Live

Colour, 35mm
Yugoslavia, 2000, 100 min
Section: Official Selection - Competition

Synopsis

A producer named Sergei and his crew are in a desperate situation. Money for the project has run out, the accounts are frozen and Yugoslavia is expecting a NATO air raid. On top of that, Mileta, a member of the state secret service, shows up at the studio looking for co-producer Harvey. In an effort to salvage things as best he can, Sergei calls a press conference to announce that the best retort to the falling bombs would be a new patriotic film with his American friend Harvey acting the lead. The state takes over sponsorship of the film and Mileta naturally becomes the filmmakers’ right hand man. He soon realises that ‘his filmmakers’ are not concerned about the fate of the country and that most of them aren’t too thrilled with Slobodan Milosevich’s regime. The shooting is in jeopardy and the crew looks for a solution to finishing the film. Only now does Sergei finally begin to realise that it simply isn’t possible to compromise with a totalitarian power.

About the director

Darko Bajić (b. 1955, Belgrade) was the first student at the Belgrade Film Academy (FDU) to graduate with a feature film, Live Broadcast (1982, Direktan prenos), awarded at home and abroad. His filmography as a director maintains an exceptionally high artistic standard and its merits have been confirmed by a number of festival honours. It includes The Forgotten Ones (1988, Zaboravljeni), The First Blow (1989, Početni udarac), The Black Bomber (1992, Crni bombarder – domestic box office winner of the year) and Balkan Rules (1997, Balkanska pravila). Darko Bajić, deputy vice-chancellor and professor at the department of direction at FDU, is also the creator of two successful television series, Gloomy House (1984, Sivi dom) and The Forgotten Ones (1992, Zaboravljeni). He has also directed theatre productions – Small (Mala) and Jovan’s Life (Život Jovanov).