Can evil people love?

The news that Serbia will, thirty years after Kusturica's Underworld, to have a representative in the official selection of this year's Cannes Film Festival is important news.

It's a movie. The disappearance of Josef Mengele Kirila Serebrenikova, whose co-producer is Miloš Đukelić, i.e. "Red production" from Belgrade. In the press material it says that it is a movie The disappearance of Josef Mengele based on the book of the same name by Olivier Guez and follows the notorious Nazi doctor during the years he spent on the run from Paraguay to the forests of Brazil.

Kirill Serebrenikov is a Russian theater and film director. Due to his democratic performances and criticism of the authoritarian government and censorship, he was sentenced to three years in prison. He has been living in Germany since April 2022. His movie Limonova, ballad it was screened last year at the Original Film Festival in Belgrade, after being part of the Main Program in Cannes. Serebrenikov also directed a play in Belgrade two years ago Ordinary story, as the first performance of his "Gogol Center" after it was closed in Moscow. This is where the professional collaboration between him and Miloš Đukelić begins.

Miloš Đukelić explains that this time, unlike his earlier films, Serebrenikov chose not only a controversial person as the main character, but also went a step further. Apart from emotionally difficult topics - Auschwitz, the Holocaust, war crimes - Serebrenikov chooses, one might say, a brave directorial process and approach, because the main character of the film is a war criminal, a monster, and we are constantly close-up with him, almost becoming intimate that way. We try to understand him even though we disgusted."

photo: promo

Like in the movie Limonova, ballad, says Đukelić, "Serebrenikov does not shy away from dealing with topics that are sensitive and come at the right moment. Authoritarian regimes, war crimes, anti-Semitism, dehumanization and the willingness to sacrifice people for the sake of science or general progress. Even now, he does not offer banal and simple answers, but asks questions: can each of us become a monster in changed circumstances, is the cause only in the circumstances or is it only helped by them? Can evil people love? Are they themselves and their families victims of their criminal actions? Do we feel guilty even for a moment that psychopaths are also people who love or are loved?"

He also emphasizes that, considering that this is "a work of art and not a scientific work or a political pamphlet, the answers are not unequivocal", and that while watching the film, "we have a feeling of nausea and confusion, but we are also confused, wondering about ourselves and our emotions... You will already feel your own and come to your own conclusions. It is certainly a layered and disturbing film".

The film was shot in Latvia and Uruguay, so it is impossible to leave out the story.

"Latvia, like Serbia, is a country where you can get much more production for smaller budgets than in other places. Also, Serebrenikov has already shot previous films there, he knows the crew, the crew speaks Russian, and the locations are reminiscent of Poland and Auschwitz. Fantastic film studios... I was personally fascinated by the level of quality of their crew's work, as well as a work ethic that is more reminiscent of Germany than we imagine the former Soviet republics. However, what surprised me the most was the duration daylight at that time of year. It's still kind of twilight, where I've already filmed commercials, in its own way. The people are warm and you make friends there. I can say that I miss the famous wines, the music, and even the smaller clubs like Danubius. experience! We are there, as far as the movie is concerned, imitated Argentina and Brazil, Paraguay... Locations where you can find more different ones were the decisive reason for us to go there.”

Miloš Đukelić believes that Serbian film has a place in the Main Program of the Cannes Festival and reminds that even much bigger cinematography than ours is insufficiently present there. He believes that "after the legendary successes of Kusturica, it may just seem that we are not successful enough. We are still good, Vladimir Perišić had two notable films in good programs, Dane Komljen in one of the programs as well. There were also regional co-productions that were very successful."

"I would say that we, like Yugoslavia, and now Serbia, are a cinematography with a fantastic tradition and respect in Cannes. If we want to be even more important and successful, we should probably choose such a strategy as well as decide on even bigger investments that are not negligible even now, to be even more present in the market itself, both in Cannes and at other festivals, more active in promoting our authors and films, to make sure that our subsidies are stable", believes Đukelić.

From the position of a member of the Fest Board, Miloš Đukelić points out that "he would like us to use our biggest film festival as a tool to connect with the world and achieve the goals of our cultural and film strategy, as a platform to talk about what is important to us and how to get there together. We also have to be lucky to have active authors who will be able to express those goals".

He says that he is "optimistic, primarily because the directors and producers are very talented, capable and educated. FDU is a quality film school, even in the world." He recommends "to deal less with relationships in our 'small pond' and be less 'crocodile' to each other. To deal more with sincere creation and personal development, and to free ourselves from any provincialism. To be proud of our specificity, as well as not to be afraid of the different and the new".

His production company "Red" did not participate in the tenders of the Ministry of Culture of Serbia for co-financing of films. Fund financing, he says, is a "generally European problem" because "like the EU bureaucracy, it is slow and difficult to balance. It lacks a vision, and there are a lot of big statements. This can often dull the edge during elections." He emphasizes that it is necessary to "nurture brave and provocative authors and films, not calculating ones. I think it is important that we recognize authenticity, diversity and sophistication, that competition commissions function as transparently as possible and without any influence of daily politics or any kind of clan division. It is easy to say, but difficult to achieve. It may even be too utopian. Let's be realistic, we seek the impossible. I deeply respect everyone who has the integrity, will and courage to deal with it here. That's why I wish all the luck and wisdom to our Film Center, and courage and perseverance to the authors. Film is a field where vanity is great and things are difficult to measure. However, I am optimistic that we have a bright future."

And, in this sense, let's remind that in Cannes for local cinematography, Emir Kusturica won the "Golden Palm" for the first time in 1985 with the film Father on a business trip, and the second time, ten years later, for The underground. Now here it is, another round anniversary.