Love and Other Crimes

Colour, 35 mm
Germany, Serbia, Austria, Slovenia, 2007, 105 min
Section: Another View

Synopsis

Anica is well into her thirties and is fed up with her life, tied down to an old mafioso named Milutin whom she stopped loving years ago. She decides to leave Belgrade and her native country to begin a new and different life. She hopes that she’ll be able to find true love. The day that she chooses to carry out her plan is a day of farewells, but also many surprises. Milutin’s young cut-throat Stanislav has finally decided to profess his love for her… What happens when you fall in love the day you wanted to leave everything behind?, asks director Stefan Arsenijević in his film, which mixes elements of criminal and romantic drama in an air of magic realism. He also touches on the problems of emigration in contemporary Serbia and the changes that have taken place in the country since the fall of Milošević’s regime in the autumn of 2000. Stefan Arsenijević was awarded the prize for Best Director at the 2008 International Film Festival in Sofia.

About the director

Stefan Arsenijević (b. 1977, Belgrade) studied philosophy and later film and television direction at the Belgrade College of Dramatic Arts. He also worked as a journalist. In 2000 he began directing short films and made a name for himself with his short drama (A)Torsion ((A)Torzija, 2002), which received the Golden Bear in its section at the 2003 Berlinale as well as an Oscar nomination and the 2003 European Film Award. He also made the short drama Little Morning Story (Mala jutarnja prića, 2002), based on his own screenplay, and directed the episode Fabulous Vera from the portmanteau film project Lost and Found - Six Glances of a Generation, screened at the KVIFF in 2005.