Program, short introduction FIFFP21 movie selection

5th 

Forteca International Film Festival Perast Montenegro,

between 8-12th August 2021, at Perast municipality cinema Kotor and later in FIFFP 2021 tour in three cities in Montenegro, and Balkan region.

PROGRAM at Torg PERAST and Museum Perast:

Snälla Kriminella/Most Unwanted

Sweden, 2021, comedy, 90’, Swedish with English subtitles

Two losers try to become criminals to solve their problems. One of them, MC Baboo, struggles to become a rapper but needs street-cred to compensate for his bad rap skills. The other, Sasan, has been dumped, fired and needs quick cash to give his dying dog an expensive surgical procedure. They decide to commit a series of robberies to solve their problems with fast cash and gaining respect on the streets. They soon have both the police and dangerous gangsters at their heels and after accidentally falling into debt to the underworld, they are forced to step up their game to pull off one final, daring heist. They intend to rob a famous comedian to avoid paying with their lives.

Director: Sara Young

Production company:  Story Studio One

Cast: Simon Garshasebi, Babak Yousefi, Lisbeth JohanssonRoshi Hoss, Johan Glans, Sanna Bråding 

Σαρμάκο: Μια ιστορία του Βορρά/SARMAKO – A Tale of the North

Greece, 2020, drama, music, 115’, Greekwith English subtitle

Thessaloniki, October 1949. The Greek Civil War is supposedly over, but its impact is still felt by the people and a great divide exists between them. Antonis, the owner of the tavern “Makedonikon,” stays neutral and tries to distance himself from politics. But dreadful news summons his most feared childhood experience. While the war, the decade and a whole epoch come to an end, the band of musicians play their last classic rembetika songs. And for Antonis the time for revenge has come.

Director: Marco Papadopoulos

Producer: Marco Papadopoulos 

Cast: Alexandros Nikolaidis, Christina Dagaki, Dimitris Krikos, Nikos Polozianis, Ilias Berberis, Nikos Korexianos, Konstantinos Gaitatzis, Vaso Vasiliadou, Alekos Tsolakis

Charter

Sweden, 2020, drama, 94’, Swedish with English subtitles

After a divorce, Alice hasn’t seen her children in two months as she awaits a custody verdict. When her son calls her in the middle of the night, Alice takes action, abducting the children on an illicit charter trip to the Canary Islands. 

Director: Amanda Kernell

Production company:  Det Danske Filminstitut, Eurimages, Film i Västerbotten

Cast: Ane Dahl Torp, Sverrir Gudnason, Troy Lundkvist

The Perfect Patient /Quick

Sweden, 2019, crime, drama, thriller, 132’, Swedish with English subtitles 

The captivating story of Sweden’s greatest judicial scandal ever, about one man who sacrificed everything in his hunt for the truth.

Director: Mikael Håfström

Production company: Brain Academy, Film i Väst, Nordisk Film 

Cast: Jonas Karlsson, David Dencik, Alba August

Producer: Helena Danielsson

L’Ultimo Whisky con il Cappellaio Matto 

2020, short film, Italy, 15’, director Nello Petrucci

What would happen if Alice found the Mad Hatter after many years? An unusual meeting where time has been out of the clock for quite a while…

Production Company:  Satyr M.B. production

Producer: Nello Petrucci

Cast: Titti Nuzzolesi, Ciro Cascina, Beniamino Brogi, Bret Roberts

Minja i klimatske promjene/ Minja and climate change 

2020, short film, Montenagro, 4’37’’, director Zoran Markovic

The little girl Minja, unlike her parents – whose interests are far from this problem, points to the negative effect of climate change in her city and country. She knows that people need to take more care on the protection of the natural environment.

Production Company: Green Home 

Producer: Zoran Markovic

Pioneer Pizza

2019, documentary, Kenya, 19’, director Wesley Shrum

True story of a missionary couple who move to the Rift Valley in Africa and adopt nine Kenyan teenagers–in addition to six of their own! 
The best part? A great recipe for homemade pizza!

Production company: Liars and Madmen

Producer: Wesley Shrum, Matthew Harsh, Mark Schafer

Obrad

2020, documentary, Montenegro, 15’33’’, directorBranislav Milatović

The film follows a man who, despite the unusual circumstances, does his job with great care and love…

Production company: Bitter Frames Production

Producer: Đorđe Vojvodić, Branislav Milatović

Pass

2020, short film, Iran, 10’, director Elika Abdollahi

A fascinating drama about not everyone is trustworthy. The social issue movie centers around a poor woman.

Production Company:  Iranian Youth Cinema Society Film School

Producer:  Elika Abdollahi

Cast: Mina Hamedan

In Sinc

2019, short film, USA, 5’, directorEddie Shieh

A young couple walk a fine line while thriving in an open marriage until they catch each other breaking the rules.

Production Company: Red Rope Productions, L Train Down Production

Producer:  Eddie Shieh, Josephine Huang

Cast: Josephine Huang, Vin Kridakorn, Kira McCarthy, Jude Severin

Pool

Sweden, 2020, drama, 95’, Swedish, French, English with English subtitles 

24 year old Johan spends his days in Nice on the French Riviera, supported by an aging ex-actress. Days go by between her house, the beaches and the apartment of his friend Kurt. A life in leisure and luxury.But memories of Johan’s teenage years are haunting him. A strong sense of threat is growing stronger and stronger. Desire and fear are acted out by the controlled but helpless people in this seemingly perfect and glamorous world.

Director: Anders Lennberg 

Production company: Pool Productions AB

Cast: David Asavanond, Moa Garpendal, Niclas Gillis

Mannen som lekte med elden/The Man Who Played with Fire

Sweden, 2018, documentary-drama, 99’, Swedish with English subtitles

A documentary about the Millenium-trilogy author Stieg Larsson and pioneering work of fighting with extremists and neo_Nazis, an obsession with fatal consequences.

Director: Henrik Georgsson

Production company: B-Reel Films, C More Entertainment

Cast: Emil Almén, Johan Eriksson, Magnus Höqqvist

Quiet/Tiho

2020, short film, SLOVENIA, 15’05’’, director Barbara Zemljič

At home, Vida cares for her ailing father whose dementia gives way to long buried emontional conflicts Vida has spent her lifetime running from. When young Zaria is Vida’s office at school the next day, Vida immediately recognizes in the young girl the same telltale signs from her own childhood, but is it too late now for either of them — has the damage already been done?

Production Company:  Blade Production

Producer: Zoran Dzeverdarovic

Kada sam kod kuće/When I’m at Home 

2020, short film, Serbia, 16’, director Ivana Todorovic

 A young woman returns home from abroad after several years to confront the trauma of sexual assault from her past.The silent witnesses of her trauma still live with the old lies. Are they brave enough for the truth?

Production Company:  Faculty of Dramatic Arts, Belgrade and Blok Film

Producer: Ivana Todorovic

Cast: Milica Stefanović, Dragana Varagić, Radoje Cupić, Sara Dinić

The Sleepless

2020, short film, USA, 7’08’’, director Kami Sadraei

An ordinary psychotherapy session takes a shocking turn.

Production Company: KAMI PRODUCTIONS

Producer: Kami Sadraei 

Cast: Kami Sadraei, Eric Robert

Papachenko

2019, documentary, Ukraine, 70’, director Sergii Dolbilov

Every boxing fan knows this name

Vasily Lomachenko or LOMA

The best boxer of the 21st century

He’s won anything and everything possible

Both in amateur boxing

And in a professional one 

And he is grateful for this to his coach

He’s learnt a lot in life

To be strong and help the weak

To believe, to love, to conquer

And he is grateful for this to his father.

Vasily dreams that his father’s name will forever remain in history

Production Company:  Kinomedia & Videoboxing

Producer: Sergii Dolbilov, Vald Panchenko, Oles Malyarevich

Петя на моята Петя/Petya of my Petya

Bulgaria, 2020, drama, 93’, Bulgarianwith English subtitle

Grieving due to injustice in school, betrayed by her closest people, 17 year-old Petya commits suicide. This happens to the talented poetess Petya Dubarova in 1979. This also happens in 2019 to a regular girl, also named Petya. Different times, different girl, the System which does not tolerate different ones remains the same.

Director: Alexander Kossev

Production Company: BOF Pictures LTD

Cast: Alexandra Kostova, Alissa Atanasova, Albena Pavlova, Julian Vergov, Monyo Monev, Alena Vergova, Yasen Atanasov, Martin Metodiev, Emil Markov, Alexander Milchev

Vtora Sansa/Second Chance

North Macedonia, Serbia, 2016, drama, 79’, Macedonian with English subtitle

Second Chance interweaves three stories of three women living in the same apartment complex, creating a kaleidoscopic observation of the unique experience of being a mother and the self-sacrifice involved in bringing life into this world. Each one of these women is trying to find meaning in her existence during the absurd and meaningless times on the verge of civil war in Macedonia. Each of them faces their own demons while trying to preserve their humanity.

Director: Marija Dzidzeva

Production Company: Small Moves

Cast: Natalija Teodosieva, Daniela Ivanovska, Mirjana Karanovic, Dancho Chevrevski, Deniz Abdula

Οι Μη Χαμένες Πατρίδες/The Unlost Homeland

Greece, 2020, documentary, 131’, Greek, English with English subtitle

“The UnLost Homeland” follows the story of 12 Greeks from Constantinople who lived through the Istanbul pogrom of 1955 in Turkey.

It is notorious in modern history as the only pogrom of such magnitude to have taken place during peacetime. The camera lens together with the presenter transport us to the stories of all the refugees who were forced to leave their country as well as of one Turk who is in self-exile. These are the stories of everyday people who were brutally uprooted. 

How did Turkey manage to eradicate all these minorities? What truly happened in these genocides that have been so masterfully silenced?

Who were the Greeks of Istanbul really? How did they continue the Byzantine legacy? How did they manage to keep intact their language, their religion and their identity for 500 years after the fall of Constantinople? 

How did they interact with the other minorities (Armenians / Jews) of the city? Where were they on the night of the pogrom? What was their education, their relationship with the Ecumenical Patriarchate, their everyday life, their cuisine? 

The story of this elite society unfolds through these rare interviews. 

Utilising fast-paced montage, and innovative animated text on screen, the viewer is transported to an imaginary table, where everyone is sitting together without knowing each other, answering and complementing each other. In the end it feels as if everybody is somehow related to one another. Through common memories and mutual pain these people are united by a unique and universal bond.

One of these Greeks returns home after 46 years with his grandson. Is his house still there? How does it feel to return to his birthplace?

Director: Eftychia Fragou Producer: Eftychia Fragou 

Cast: Giannis Demirtzoglou, Emilios Eden, Anastasia Eden, Stavros Kaloumenos, Eleni Nioti, Giannis Ntokmetzioglou, Panagiotis Pantelidis, Marina Papaconstantinou, Andonis Parizianos 

Dohvati Nebo/Reach For The Sky

Montenegro, 2021, drama, 89’, Montenegrin with English subtitle

Milutin, a middle-aged man, is fighting to save his family’s harmony, fighting not just the social and political circumstances, but also needs to deal with the fact that his wife Magdalena ended up in a wheelchair after a car crash in which she jumped in front of a car to save their son Jakov. Living in a countryside, Milutin and Magdalena prove that real love and respect have no obstacles, making this film a manifesto of real human values.

Director: Milutin Daric

Production: “Portun D” Cetinje

Cast: Milan Kovačević, Nada Vukčević, Maja Šarenac, Emir Ćatović, Mladen Nelević, Petar Božović, Ljubica Barać, Branimir Popović, Aleksandar Saša Petrović, Vanja Jovićević, Pavle Popović, Danilo Babović, Miodrag Manerik, Omar Bajramspahić, Miloš Pejović, Slaviša Grubiša, Davor Klisić, Petar Kažić