OUR FATHER

Goran Stanković

Writer: Goran Stanković, Ognjen Sviličić, Maja Pelević

This and That Productions, Serbia

Dejan, a drug addict arrives for treatment at an isolated monastery commune where he becomes the right hand of the authoritative Father Branko, until the priest takes his violent methods too far.

DEJAN (32) is taken by his mother VIOLETA (60) to a monastery commune, to be treated for his drug addiction. The place is led by a charismatic priest BRANKO (54) who has absolute authority over the small community counting around thirty addicts. Branko appoints MIONICA (33) as Dejan's guardian, a sensitive soul, earnest and trustworthy. With his support Dejan needs to move towards healing. He is assigned to carry wood, wash feces and clean waste while fighting a strong post-abstinence crisis. He has no time to think, just to fight. The commune functions as a wholesome unit, but when rules are broken, the punishment is cruel. Branko, the priest, sees potential in Dejan giving him more responsibilities and investing more time and trust in him. Dejan begins to find meaning in this new position of power and begins to preach to others, making it seem like he is completely healed. When a disturbing clip made by a former addict showing the priest beating his patients with a shovel, goes viral, the existence of the center is called into question. One evening Mionica, Dejan’s former guardian, returns to the center under the influence of drugs, breaking the commune’s biggest rule. Dejan, now Branko’s right hand, must decide whether to protect his friend or remain loyal to the priest and punish him.

Director’s biography: Goran Stanković / IMDb

Goran Stanković grew up in Serbia where he received his BA in film directing. In 2014, he graduated with a Master’s Degree from the Directing Program at the American Film Institute in Los Angeles and his thesis film WAY IN RYE was nominated for the Student Academy Award for Best Narrative Short. His two undergraduate films, WHO GUARDS THE GUARDIANS and OLD MOUNTAIN, were selected for over 50 international festivals and won 17 awards. During his studies at the American Film Institute, Goran was awarded The Hollywood Foreign Press and The Richard Frank scholarships. He also won the Franklin J. Schaffner Fellow Award in recognition of talent and outstanding direction in his thesis film WAY IN RHYE. His first feature documentary, IN THE DARK, a story about Serbian miners had its world premiere at the prestigious IDFA 2014 festival in Amsterdam and has gone to win awards across US and Europe. The broadcasting rights were bought by Al Jazeera and the Discovery Channel. Most recently Goran was the creator of a 40-episode drama series MORNING CHANGES EVERYTHING for the Serbian National Broadcaster RTS, for which he directed 19 episodes.

Producer’s biography: Snežana van Houwelingen/ IMDb

Snežana van Houwelingen graduated Film Production at the Academy of Arts in Belgrade. She is a graduate of the EAVE Producers program in 2011.
Snežana has produced many internationally acclaimed fiction films and documentaries. Most recent are A GOOD WIFE by Mirjana Karanovic (Sundance 2016), MONUMENT TO MICHAEL JACKSON supported by Eurimages and Media as well as BATTERY MAN, a feature documentary sold to over 10 worldwide broadcasters and IN THE DARK, a feature documentary which premiered at the IDFA. Snežana also produced a 40 episode TV show MORNING CHANGES EVERYTHING that aired on RTS.

Where are we at?

Estimated production budget: 602.037,00 EUR

Financing in place: 179.037,00 EUR

Production timeline:

Development stage
Production support received by Film Center Serbia - August 2019
Preliminary casting and location scouting - February 2021
Final draft of the script - February 2021

Creative Europe Media - Single development application - November 2020
Applying in Co-producer's countries for minority co-production - October 2020 - August 2021
Location scouting, crew hiring and final casting March-August 2021
Eurimages application - October 2021

Production stage
pre-production: July-September 2021
shooting: October - November 2021

Post-production stage
Editing: December 2021-March 2022
Sound Post, Color grading, CGI and final mix: April-June 2022

Delivery date: July 2022

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Director’s statement

10 years ago, a cellphone video showing the punishment of a rehab patient in Serbia’s Crna Reka monastery went viral. The public immediately polarized into those who support the priests' methods and those who condemn it. Three years later, the same priest was charged of beating one of his rehab patients to death.

OUR FATHER focuses on a group of rejected people on the margins of society. For those who lost all hope and meaning in life, this remote monastery gives a new perspective on life through a sense of belonging, religion, discipline and hard work. From today's perspective, this is a story about an isolated system that for a moment, resembles a utopia but ultimately, like any form of autocracy, inevitably leads to disaster. Sometimes it takes an extreme eye-opener like this to start radical changes in people as well as in society. At the very end of this story, all these abandoned people are again forgotten and return to their invisible lives. This film is dedicated to them.

Producer's statement

Goran and I met back in 2006 while studying at the Academy of Arts, where we did student films together. After the success of our first short film which received numerous awards at festivals and whose realization we had achieved without the institutional support of the faculty, we decided to establish a production company and continue our collaboration through the documentaries OLD MOUNTAIN and IN THE DARK (IDFA 2014).
After Goran completed his postgraduate studies at AFI in USA we began developing the TV show MORNING CHANGES EVERYTHING (RTS, 2018) as well as the OUR FATHER project.
The idea of OUR FATHER is to open questions about the responsibility of institutions and society for drug addicts, for the ones that are pushed aside in the society and who are mostly members of younger generation.
We received production support in Serbia and we are ready to apply in co-producer's countries and later on at Eurimages. We intend to close the financing and start shooting by October 2021.

sarajevoff-2020 - OUR FATHER - Graphic materials [1108951].jpg

sarajevoff-2020 - OUR FATHER - Graphic materials [1108952].jpg

sarajevoff-2020 - OUR FATHER - Graphic materials [1108953].jpg

Production Company profile

THIS AND THAT PRODUCTIONS is Belgrade-based and was founded in 2008 by a group of young producers and filmmakers to produce high quality socially-engaged feature and creative documentaries. Most of the films are made as international co-productions and have won a number of international awards. Recent films are OCCUPIED CINEMA by S. Domanovic (Rotterdam International Film Festival 2020), A GOOD WIFE by M. Karanović. This and That currently has two films in the phase of financing, MOTHER MARA by Mirjana Karanović, supported by Serbian, Bosnian, Montenegrian and Slovenian Film Center and OUR FATHER.

Email: snezana@thisandthat.rs

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