Section: Feature Film Competition

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WHERE THE ROAD LEADS

Nina Ognjanović
RS, 2022, 81 Min

The sleepy existence of the Serbian village is disturbed by the arrival of “the new one”. The curiosity of the locals, who want to know as much as possible about the handsome stranger, is mixed with open hostility: perhaps his appearance threatens the safety of the entire community? An absurdist portrait of provincial life, easily recognizable anywhere in the world.

Nina Ognjanović’s film is staged as a folk play. The plot is simple: the appearance of a new person brings confusion into the settled life of a small village. The local cop, sensing an opportunity to use his power, decides if the stranger can sit on the front porch of a grocery store. Two peasant brothers cast unkind glances at “the new one” and sharpen their knives. A restless local beauty, dreaming of leaving the village, follows the stranger on the heels. The film challenges all notions of what arthouse is and how to watch it. It plays with stereotypes about Southern Europe, revealing them from the inside. It wittily violates the plot development logic. Finally, it cleverly explores the romantic idealization of the “small homeland” that leads the members of the local community to fight against any signs of novelty and dissent.

Text: Ksenia Reutova

Drehbuch
Nina Ognjanović
Kamera
Vladislav Andrejević
Ton
Stevan Masnec
Schnitt
Rastko Ubović
Ausstattung
Neva Joksimović
Musik
Ana Krstajić
Darsteller
Jana Bjelica, Zlatan Vidović, Vladimir Maksimović, Ninoslav Ćulum, Igor Filipović, Svetozar Cvetković, Branislava Stefanović, Eva Ras, Demijan Kostić
Produzent
David Jovanović
Produktion
Pointless Films
Nina Ognjanović

Nina Ognjanović - Nina Ognjanović is a Serbian writer/director. She graduated from the Faculty of Dramatic Arts in Belgrade in 2022. In January 2023, her thesis film premiered at the Slamdance Film Festival winning the Audience Award for Best Narrative Feature and a Grand Jury Honorable Mention. It has been on the festival circuit ever since.