JUGOSLAVA
Ivan Bakrač
Quadrifolium Films / Biberche Productions, Arizona Films
On her 55th birthday, in order to overcome complete loneliness, JUGOSLAVA uses her vacation to search for a new apartment. However, that quest will change her life in a different way than she imagined.
After her husband dies and her son moves abroad, JUGOSLAVA spends her days mostly alone. On her 55th birthday, she decides to introduce some changes in her life. In order to fight loneliness, and to distance herself from the family home packed with memories, she spends her summer vacation by searching for a new flat. With each new tour, Jugoslava is visibly happier. Slowly she becomes obsessed with places, interiors and the lives of other people in their intimate spaces. However, that quest will change her life in a way that she hadn't imagined. While touring one of the flats, out of pure misunderstanding, Jugoslava finds herself trapped in destiny's hands. One harmless visit almost results in a tragedy. In her attempt to solve the mysterious confusion, she relives her unresolved dilemmas surrounding her husband's death. The impenetrability of the truth about her past makes it increasingly hard for her to adjust to the present. She tries to adjust to her milieu, but fails to escape her most sincere feelings and habits.
IVAN BAKRAČ / IMDB
IVAN BAKRAČ (1987, Montenegro) graduated from the Faculty of Arts and Design in Belgrade (Serbia) with the MA degree in film directing. He has written and directed award-winning films that were selected by a handful of international festivals. Ivan participated in various programs such as Berlinale Talents, Talents Sarajevo and Zurich FF Academy. Apart from his career as a filmmaker, he also works as a festival programmer. His debut feature AFTER THE WINTER premiered at the 55th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival and was screened at various festivals across the globe.
Director’s statement
YUGOSLAVA is an intimate tale about the unbearable loneliness of our lead protagonist, whose life is, essentially, pretty simple. The idea is inspired by the motives of a real-life event that happened a long time ago and of which I know very little, so the main motive served only as an inspiration and I developed the storyline according to my own interests.
Yugoslava roams the lost identity of her nation, searching for answers about her own life. She is apolitical, even though her environment is very politically colored and divided. Since I come from former Yugoslavia, I know how influential one's past can be, and that is exactly what I am trying to convey in this project. Moreover, I intend to question the position of women in the transitional Balkan society. What is the function of a middle-aged woman, if she doesn’t have a husband and children to serve them? What happens when a woman herself begins to doubt her own purpose? Those and many other similar questions I discussed with my mother, who is about the same age as Yugoslava now.
In the monotony of her daily life, even the smallest novelty can seem like a challenge. And so Yugoslava's encounter with a teratologist, and later on, all other events "destined" to happen in the story, are nothing but her escape from boredom. It is in this way however, that she opens some questions that were seemingly closed for a long time. Did her husband kill himself too? In her dreams, she sees his last drive, and that further pushes her not to give up searching for the right answers in her newfound journey.
In accordance with the social and economic circumstances, the housing culture in Montenegro is diverse, and my desire is to address the relationship between character and space. Since I am also a vocational interior designer, I spent a long time researching how much we shape the space we live in and how much it actually shapes us. I deeply believe that it is almost impossible to show real emotion in a film if there is no space in it that strongly supports the characters.
NIKOLINA VUČETIĆ ZEČEVIĆ / IMDB
NIKOLINA VUČETIĆ ZEČEVIĆ is a Serbian film producer, born in Croatia (1980). She holds an MA in production from the Faculty of Dramatic Arts, Belgrade. Nikolina is currently finishing her PhD in audio-visual arts and creative productions at Arts Academy of the Novi Sad University (Serbia) where she has been working as a professor since 2018. Founder of Biberche Productions Company, the films she produced took part in renowned film festivals such as Cannes, Venice, San Sebastian, Pusan, Toronto, Karlovy Vary, and Sarajevo, among others. In 2013, she joined the Board of the Association of Serbian Producers, while she has been a member of ACE Producers, European Film Academy, Cinematography Bord and the Serbian Chamber of Commerce from 2014.
GUILLAUME DE SEILLE / IMDB
Born in 1968, GUILLAUME DE SEILLE studied civil engineering. After writing and directing two short films (both went on to win awards), he worked ten years for Canal+ in the cinema department, where he worked in presales of French and European films. Likewise, he was commissioning editor for a couple of years within the short film department of Canal+ and artistic producer for French public broadcaster France 2. Independent producer since 2000, he produced or co-produced over 40 non-French feature art-house films, selected at every major festival and theatrically released in France. He is a 1998 EAVE graduate, member of European Film Academy, Cesar Academy and SPI in France.
Producer's statement:
JUGOSLAVA is a continuation of the cooperation of the director-producer team that already yielded Ivan Bakrač's debut film After The Winter. There are several reasons that underpin the continuation of such cooperation.
The first and obvious reason is the thorough understanding of the three producers that have decided to join forces, experience, connections, and above all, their coinciding creative affinities, and steer the production of this film, with the belief that Jugoslava has the potential to simultaneously be an important festival film, while remaining attractive to a wider audience that would be interested in partaking in this "adventure" set in a very specific milieu and circumstances.
The second, and perhaps more important reason, is the universe that Bakrač reveals in his new project. By telling the story of several unusual days in the life of a seemingly ordinary middle-aged woman in the heat-stricken city of Podgorica, Bakrač continues what he had started with the film After The Winter. Once again, he completely exposes himself as an author to tell a personal story through the use of a cinematic language that invites us all to participate and go through an emotional and intellectual experience (indeed, these often coincide in a film) but more importantly - to identify and feel his world as one that is sincere, close, and familiar.
In Jugoslava, Bakrač offers a modern and fresh approach. He bases his film on seemingly ordinary situations and dialogues that subtly generate empathy and a dignified humor which often reminds us that it is in comic situations that perhaps the most painful truths are told. The atmosphere of the city, which evolves to become one of the film characters, is also very interesting. The unbearable heat of a Podgorica summer, along with lonesome Jugoslava, delivers a dreamy atmosphere (which is one of the ways of contemplating this film) that shapes into an unfinished dream, one that is striving to give life a meaning that we constantly search for.
Where are we at?
Total estimated budget: 790.000 €
Finances pending: 742.000 €
Financing in place: 48.000 €
Production timeline
2021 - October 2022 - Developing
October 2022 - Early Spring 2024 - Financing
Spring 2024 - Final preparations
Summer 2024 - Shooting
Autumn 2024 - Post-production
Production company profile
Ivan Bakrač founded the production company QUADRIFOLIM FILMS in 2018 with the aim of producing contemporary films in Montenegro and across the region. The same year, the company co-produced a short film LIFE AFTER in collaboration with field experts from Romania, Serbia and Northern Macedonia. In 2020, the company joined the production team of RIFT IN THE ICE, a film directed by Maja Miloš from Serbia (currently in post-production). Currently, the company is developing a new film by Ivan Bakrač, JUGOSLAVA, and co-producing DAUGHTER, a new film by Vladimir Blaževski (PUNK'S NOT DEAD, YEAR OF THE MONKEY).