MELTING OF THE RULER
Ivan Salatić
Meander Film, Montenegro
Untold stories of Montenegrin nineteenth-century every-man and their beloved ruler Morlak.
It is 19th century Montenegro. The small territory of free hills is ruled by MORLAK. The Turks are busting into villages and forcefully collecting tributes. JOVO is selling coal to provide for his family. One day, on his way home, he stumbles upon a wounded Turk. He decides to kill him and take his head. He brings the head as a trophy to Morlak, who finds it repugnant and kicks Jovo out of his chambers. Jovo decides to take revenge by throwing the head to Morlak’s pigs. The head, wrapped in rags, starts talking. Jovo, terrified, runs home. In the morning, Jovo’s wife discovers that he’s turned into a mummy.
MARA lives by the lake. LUKA is a frog trader. They are in love, but Mara finds out that he is about to leave with a load of frogs, not intending to come back to her. She wakes up delirious and tells the villagers about frogs overtaking the village. Luka and his boss are trying to take the frogs out of the village to send them to a merchant ship. Villagers bearing sticks and torches intercept them, tie them up and leave them, with the frogs, outside the village. Mara frees the frogs which overrun the entire village.
Morlak is suffering from tuberculosis. The doctor recommends he goes to warmer climates, so he travels to southern Italy. DJUKO is the youngest and most ardent of Morlak’s men. He is afraid that Morlak might die in a foreign land. Morlak spends his days in a foul mood. Djuko finds out that a man named LJUBO, a scholar from their own land, came to visit. Morlak and Ljubo enjoy spending days together. Djuko starts wishing to kill Ljubo. Ljubo continues his journey and a disenchanted Morlak returns to the homeland.
Morlak is dying.
Director’s biography: Ivan Salatić / IMDb
Ivan Salatić was born in Dubrovnik in 1982 and grew up in Herceg Novi. He finished the School of Fine Arts in Belgrade, but over time become more interested in films. He later enrolled in a film school in Montenegro. The following films were presented and awarded at many international festivals. Among them, the short film BACKYARDS which was screened at the Venice FF in Orizzonti 2015, followed by his feature film YOU HAVE THE NIGHT, also presented at the Venice FF, Critics’ Week 2018. He earned a master's degree at HFBK in Hamburg 2016. He co-runs MEANDER FILM, a production company based in Montenegro. He currently lives in Belgrade, preparing his next film called MELTING OF THE RULER.
Producer’s biography: Jelena Angelovski / IMDb
Jelena Angelovski produced her debut feature fiction film, WIND (Torino IFF, 2016.). She is a producer of the fiction film YOU HAVE THE NIGHT by Ivan Salatić (Venice FF) and feature-length documentary TAURUNUM BOY (2019 Cinema du Reel). Currently she is working as a producer of features films MELTING POF THE RULER, THE ELEGY OF LAUREL (in post), IN PRAISE OF LOVE (in post), HOMELANDS (FIDMarseille 2020). She is alumni of EAVE Producers Workshop 2020.
Where are we at?
Estimated production budget: 812.898,00 EUR
Financing in place: 20,000.00 EUR
Production timeline:
Development: August 2019 - July 2021
Pre-production: July 2021
Production: September 2021
Post-production: November 2021 – April 2022
World premiere: February 2022
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Director’s statement
My intention is to create a possible view of the 19th century Mediterranean. Main character is inspired by 19th century ruler, bishop and poet Petar Petrović Njegoš, with a focus on the poetic and solitary side of his personality. I am interested in the conflict between that tender side of him and the circumstances in Montenegro during his time, which were cruel.
The film is divided into five segments, the first and the last represent a paraphrase of historical event. Then we move on to two stories, similar in their scope, each of them with its own protagonist fighting the prejudice and the superstition of their time. Then we have story about MORLAK, that is free from the limits of biographic portraiture, placing the focus on the characters surrounding the ruler and allowing the viewer to dive into the past, to imagine the flow of time of an ordinary person whose heart and hours beat simultaneously with the history that will later be described in books or archival documents.
Producer's statement
Ivan Salatić has shown his authentic expression starting from his first films. His first feature film called YOU HAVE THE NIGHT premiered at Venice Film Festival in 2018 proving the maturity of his work. The quality of his films and the success at national and international film festivals, indicate Ivan Salatić as one of the most interesting authors coming from Ex Yugoslav countries. The script for his new film THE MELTING OF THE RULER shares all the qualities of Salatić’s previous works, but also his determination to enrich his cinematic language and to bring new and important subjects into the contemporary film of the region. He brings visually sumptuous film, cross-referencing pictures from historical events, literature, painting, and music.
His approach to the subject gives us a fresh perspective on the history of Balkans, tracing the pattern of complex modern-days relations to political authorities in the region.
Production Company profile
MEANDER FILM is a production company from Montenegro. Our first production was the short fiction SOA (2017) directed by Dušan Kasalica. Its international premiere was at Sarajevo FF. In 2018 we produced short documentary WE ARE THE SONS OF YOUR ROCKS directed by Ivan Salatić, premiered at DocLisboa. YOU HAVE THE NIGHT (2018) by Salatić, is the first fiction feature film produced by Meander Film. The world premiere was at Venice IFF. We are producing the feature-length THE ELEGY OF LAUREL by Kasalica, currently in post-production.
Email: meanderfilm@gmail.com