Belgrade Premier of The Movie Avala

Avala

Tagline:
Is such experience false, where the spaces begin to diminish, reduce and separate?

Director statement:
Avala is a personal story, told from passion, without the assistance of any governmental or non-governmental organizations, only with the help of friends. Filmed in 12 days, with a budget of 128 € and with a broken lens camera, and surveyor tripod.

Synopsis [short version]:

After leaving the Philharmonic orchestra, without anything, only his cello, various psychiatric institutions became his home, until he finally arrived at a sanatorium at the top of the mountain named Avala.

In this displaced and forgotten psychiatric asylum, also known as Open Day Hospital, he is waiting for a return to the real world.

Credits:

Writer and Director:

Slobodan Popović

Cast:

Nermin Ahmetović, Amra Latifić, Jelena Trkulja, Marko Vujnović, Ivan Marković, Vesna Udženija, Ljiljana Simončević, Stevan Vulić, Zoran Marković, Svetlana Velikinac…

Music:

Mozart, Boccherini, traditional, public domain…

Specifications:

Genre: Feature, Drama

Duration: 110 min

Format: DCP, Color, 1:1.85, Dolby surround

Producer: Art Beat Centar

Completion Date: 2015

Film Language: Serbo-croatian, English, German (English subtitle)

Screenings / Awards:

Indie Film festival 2015, Switzerland, December 18, 2015, World Premiere, Best Feature Film

Singapore World International film Festival (April 2016)

Official selection

London Show Film Festival (April 2016)

Official selection

Lumiere 2016, CinemaAvvenire, (May 2016)

Official selection

Official website:

avala.eu.pn

World presentation:

http://worldfilmpresentation.com/node/797

Online screener:

https://filmfreeway.com/project/435644

Trailer:

Slobodan Popovic, Director, (biofilmography):

Born 1966, working as Stage manager in theater. Avala is his first feature length film. Torpedo, short, editing, directing, produced by the Fiks-Fokus, 1998. Gatherer of Herbs, documentary, director of photography, editing, directing, 2000. The Bald Eagle – A Man’s Friend, wildlife film, director of photography, directing, produced by Nature Conservation Institute of Serbia, 2004. I also know something, 10 episodes, editing, assistant director, broadcasted on Happy TV, 2006. Stone Mountain, documentary, director of photography, editing, directing, produced by the Nature Conservation Institute of Serbia and the Kingdom of Spain. Next Door Murder, feature, short, editing, second camera, produced by Academy of Arts BK.

World on the plate, eight episodes, editing, assistant director, broadcasted on TV Studio B…

(Synopsis [long version]:

Twenty years ago, Mr. Dedić, a professional Cellist with his career on the rise suddenly decided to stop playing the Cello, and withdrew from the world.

After leaving the Philharmonic orchestra, without anything, only his cello, various psychiatric institutions became his home, until he finally arrived at a sanatorium at the top of the mountain named Avala.

In this displaced and forgotten psychiatric asylum, also known as Open Day Hospital, he is waiting for a return to the real world.
The only staff in the forgotten hospital, marked out for demolition, is the head nurse Sonja, who is also a housekeeper and a therapist. Mr. Dedić is her only remaining patient.
Days are going slowly, like in every hospital. Mainly, Mr. Dedić is fighting his own demons. When he cannot sleep, he dreams of and imagines war crimes for which he is being told never happened. He feels sick remorse, since his music could not prevent all those atrocities.

After one experience with Sonja, during a summer storm, and the discovery of an abandoned mine named Hollow Rock, he comes across a café hosting a beauty contest. He unpacks his dusty cello and climbs aboard the Open Top tourist bus, traveling through Belgrade. He is playing the Boccherini concert…)