SAN ZIMSKE NOĆI

Sceneggiatura / Screenplay: Filip David, Goran Paskaljević. Fotografia / Photography: Milan Spasić. Montaggio / Editing: Petar Putniković. Musica / Music: Zoran Simjanović. Suono / Sound: Branko Neskov. Scenografia / Art Director: Tijana Marić. Costumi / Wardrobe: Jelena Anđelković. Interpreti / Cast: Lazar Ristovski, Jasna Žalica, Jovana Mitić, Danica Ristovski, Boda Ninković, Nenad Jezdić, Lav Geršman, Erol Kadić, Ljiljana Jovanović, Feđa Stojanović, Jovan Ristovski, Vlasta Velisavljević, Dusšan Janićijević, Ana Puderka, Azra Čengić, Ratko Miletić. Produzione / Produced By: Nova Film. Coproduzione / Coproduced by: Zillion Film, Wanda Vision.

Serbia, Winter 2004. Lazar returns home after ten long years of absence. He is a different man today: having regained his liberty, he has decided to free himself from the heavy burden of his past and to start a new life in a country that also seems to want a better future. But he founds that the apartment where he formerly lived is now occupied by Jasna, a single mother who is raising her autistic 12-year-old daughter Jovana. Refugees from Bosnia, they have been squatting in Lazar’s apartment for some time now. Since mother and daughter have nowhere else to go, Lazare doesn’t have the heart to make them leave. Little by little, among these three beings marginalized by society, a special kinship will develop.Special Prize of the Jury at San Sebastian Film Festival in 2004, and Special Prize of the Jury at the Trieste Film Festival in 2005.

“In autumn last year, not entirely by chance, I started to develop interest for the phenomenon of autism… I wanted first to find out what real autism is, so I came to meet an autistic girl named Jovana. After spending several months with her and her family, I decided to make a feature film with her “playing” the leading role. This film is the result of our mutual adventure.” (G. Paskaljević, excerpt from the Catalogue of the 16th edition of Alpe Adria Cinema – Trieste Film Festival, Trieste 2005, p. 43)

Goran Paskaljević (1947-2020)

One of Europe’s most respected independent directors, Goran Paskaljević was born in Belgrade in 1947. Between 1967 and 1971 he studied at FAMU, the Prague Film School. His first feature film, Čuvar plaže u zimkom periodu ((Beach Guard in Winter, 1976) was shown at the Berlin Festival, where it gained the International Critics’ Prize. After leaving his country for France in 1992 for political reasons, he returned to Yugoslavia in 1998 to make Bure baruta (The Powder Keg) one of his most important films, but his constant criticism of Milosević’s regime met with violent, menacing attacks in the official press. The Museum of Modern Art in New York (MoMA) presented a full retrospective of his work in January 2008. His latest film Nonostante la nebbia (Despite the Fog, 2019) was shot in Italy, with Italian actors. He passed away in Paris on September 2020. The Trieste FF over the years has presented almost all of his films and, in 2010, invited him to hold a masterclass.

filmografia scelta / selected filmography

1976 Čuvar plaže u zimkom periodu (Beach Guard in Winter / Il bagnino d’inverno); Premi / Awards: Berlinale – Premio della critica / International Critics’ Prize 1978 Pas koji je voleo vozeve (The Dog Who Loved Trains) 1980 Poseban tretman (Special Treatment); Premi / Awards: Cannes – Premio come Miglior Attrice non protagonista a / Best Supporting Actress to Milena Dravić 1982 Twilight Time (Il tempo del crepuscolo) 1987 Anđeo čuvar 1990 Vreme cuda (Time of Miracles); Premi / Awards: San Sebastian Film Festival – Premio FIPRESCI / FIPRESCI Prize 1992 Tango Argentino; Premi / Awards: Venezia, Mostra del cinema – Premio del pubblico / Venice FF – Audience Award 1995 Someone Else’s America; Premi / Awards: Cannes, Quinzaine des réalisateurs – Premio speciale del pubblico / Special Prize of the Audience 1998 Bure baruta (La polveriera / The Powder Keg); Premi / Awards: Venezia, Mostra del Cinema – Premio FIPRESCI / Venice Film Festival – FIPRESCI Prize 2001 How Harry Became a Tree (Come Harry divenne un albero) 2004 San Zimske Noći (Midwinter Night’s Dream); Premi / Awards: San Sebastian Film Festival – Premio Speciale della Giuria / Special Prize of the Jury; Trieste FF – Premio Speciale della Giuria / Special Prize of the Jury 2006 Optimisti (The Optimists) 2009 Medeni mesec (Honeymoons) 2012 Kad svane dan (When Day Breaks) 2016 Dev Bhoomi Land of the Gods 2019 Nonostante la nebbia (Despite the Fog)