Archive of films Death of a Man in Balkans / Smrt čoveka na Balkanu

Serbia
2012, 80 min

Section: Forum of Independents - Competition
Year: 2012

A lonely composer commits suicide in his apartment. By means of a webcam that the victim mounted on a tripod and pointed at the middle of the room, we are able to follow the commotion that subsequently takes place in his flat. This original, low-budget movie, packed with snappy dialogue and functioning as a window onto the "Balkan mentality,” is shot entirely in one take.

Synopsis

A lonely composer commits suicide in his apartment. The gunshot alarms the tenants in the adjacent flats. Neighbor Aca is the first to arrive on the scene and, as the first witness, he decides to wait for the police. But the "protectors of public order” are stuck in traffic. So the neighbors pass the time as best they can, and eventually a wide variety of characters involved in the "case” make their way into the apartment. In this way, the director is able to draw on their behavior to weave a subtle mosaic of the "Balkan mentality” and of human nature in general. All the goings-on in the room are conveyed to the viewer via webcam, which the composer mounted on a tripod and pointed at the middle of the room before taking his exit. This original, low-budget movie, packed with snappy dialogue, is filmed entirely in one shot. The director commented on his chosen method with the words: "I recorded the story in one take in order to make an image of the hyper-realistic environment of the time and place I live in.”

About the director

Miroslav Momčilović (b. 1969, Belgrade) graduated in dramaturgy from Belgrade’s Faculty of Dramatic Arts. Two of his plays have been staged: Beograd na kolenima (1997) and Život iz početka (2000). He wrote the script for Radivoj Andrić’s film When I Grow Up, I’ll Be a Kangaroo (Kad porastem biću kengur, 2004). His debut as a director came with Sedam i po (2006), which screened at numerous international festivals and picked up a variety of awards, including Best Debut at the Rome Independent Film Festival. His next film, Wait for Me and I Will Not Come (Čekaj me, ja sigurno neću doći, 2009), was equally well-received, with prizes including Best Direction at the Sofia IFF. Death of a Man in Balkans is his third feature, for which, like his previous two films, he also wrote the script.

Contacts

Hit and Run Production
Palmira Toljatija 19, 110 70, Belgrade
Serbia
Tel: +381 638 348 067
E-mail: [email protected]

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About the film

Color, DCP
World premiere

Section:	Forum of Independents - Competition

Director:	Miroslav Momčilović
Screenplay:	Miroslav Momčilović
Dir. of Photography:	Miladin Čolaković
Music:	Predrag Šarović, Aleksandar Kovačević
Editor:	Ivan Vladimirov
Producer:	Miroslav Momčilović
Production:	Brigada
Cast:	Emir Hadžihafizbegović, Radoslav Milenković, Bojan Žirović, Nataša Ninković, Anita Mančić
Contact:	Hit and Run Production

Guests

Miroslav Momčilović

Film Director / Producer

Bojan Lazarov

Actor

Predrag Šarović

Producer