Horopter Film Production

Hundreds of frozen and starved people floating on boats in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea fleeing from the war... Familiar scenes that we are used to seeing in recent times. But the year is 1944, and the refugees are travelling from Europe to Africa. After Italian capitulation,and before the arrival of German army, 28 000 Dalmatian Croats left their home villages and towns to live for two years under the tents in the middle of Egyptian desert, in a kind of a communist model village that was formed to show the Allies how the new Yugoslavia will look like when the war ends. This is a story about them.

Schoolkids living on the top of the paradise island wait for the rain to stop. A former advertising executive is closing a land deal for her new villa. An entrepreneur battles nature while building a resort in the jungle. A veterinarian works cleaning snakes from the gardens of the foreigners. An influencer, disillusioned with love, recovers from losing everything overnight. A father and son prepare to leave for good, not knowing where. A dancer adopts a new identity, distancing herself from everything she’s ever known. Divers venture into uncharted waters, risking their lives for the challenge of conquest. The tensions between life’s possibilities revolve around the question of what life one should be living, with every decision leading to a different version of oneself. And while the earthly paradise might be nothing more than an ideal of imagination, humanity’s relentless pursuit for happiness persists.

On mysterious cassettes forgotten or left behind for 17 years, a disturbing filmic material is revealed. Accompanied by the extracts of a diary written by the protagonist standing behind the camera, the images translate into a singular and transformative intimate experience. Mladen Kovačević constructs a film using sequences retracing a Serbian expedition to Mount Everest. Images from another time, shot in the almost alien, mystical landscapes reveal enigmatic characters, perilous circumstances and the suspense of confrontation to the real limits of human capabilities. An adventure film, as rigorous as it is melancholic, based on skilful editing.

She is spending her life defying gravity on the vertical road that literary has no beginning or end, where she has nothing to hope for, where only injury or death can happen to her. She has only her memories.

In 1972 Yugoslavia became the site of Europe’s last smallpox epidemic. This gripping archival documentary, aptly described by its creators as a medical thriller, reconstructs the dramatic events of those spring months, and viewers will find it difficult not to draw comparisons with the worldwide events of the past two years.

In the heart of the Balkans, where making music is an integral part of life, meet Pera, a wonderful old farmer who seems to know everything about everything; Josip, inventor of numerous new instruments; and the amazing Vera, greatest leaf virtuoso of them all. Three musicians – a glimpse into the unknown, all– but – lost art of leaf playing. Filled with stunning music as vital yet as fragile as the perishable instrument on which it's played, this lovely film is as much about joy, living in the moment, being alive, as it is about making music. Seeing it, you may just want to go find some leaves – and make some music yourself. - Charlie Cockey