Ivana Mladenović’s Sorella di Clausura is a darkly comic portrait of obsession, delusion, and the strange collisions between celebrity culture and everyday survival. Featuring a fearless performance from Katia Pascariu as the unforgettable Stela, alongside Cendana Trifan and Miodrag Mladenović, the film builds its own mad energy from the very first moments. A bright red title card declares, “If you thought you were going to watch a film based on true events, you are wrong and possibly paranoid,” setting the tone for a story that oscillates between satire, melodrama, and tragic comedy. Adapted from Liliana Pelici’s autobiographical manuscript, the film reshapes her personal testimony into a wild narrative that keeps viewers laughing, cringing, and thinking in equal measure.
Tag Archives: Serbia
Venice 2024 Review: “Possibility of Paradise”
In “Possibility of Paradise”, Serbian documentarian Mladen Kovačević presents a bold, unconventional exploration of human desires and ambitions, set against the backdrop of Bali, Indonesia. The film is divided into a series of seemingly unrelated vignettes, each highlighting a different individual or group in search of their own version of paradise. An unconventional structure and observant, non-interfering camera heighten the film’s existential and philosophical undertones, inviting viewers to engage deeply with the questions it poses, rather than providing easy answers.
Rotterdam 2024 Review: “78 Days”
“78 Days,” the debut feature film by Emilija Gašić, premiering at the 2024 International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR), is a remarkable Serbian production that delves into the heart of a family’s experience during the NATO bombings of Yugoslavia in 1999. Through an evocative narrative captured in the style of a home video, Gašić brings to the screen a story that intertwines the innocence of youth with the harrowing realities of war, making it a true standout example of found-footage filmmaking.
Venice 2023 Review: “Housekeeping for Beginners”
“A gay man and a lesbian woman walk to the altar together” might sound like the setup for a joke, but in Goran Stolevski’s serious drama “Housekeeping for Beginners,” it’s a central moment in a jarring journey into the world of marginalized people in contemporary North Macedonia. Making a return to his motherland after having directed two successful queer features in Australia, Stolevski brilliantly maneuvers through the intersecting lines of discrimination faced by the LGBTQ+ and Roma communities, delivering a daring portrayal of a group of people who do not fit in.
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