After the screening of short films in Kinodvor Cinema at 17.00 the viewers were introduced to the filmmakers of Down on the Corner, a heartrending story about a Serbian village Sirća in Kraljevo, whose inhabitants are coming to grips with severe poverty and destitution. Directors, scriptwriters and cinematographers Corina Schwingruber Ilić and Nikola Ilić spoke about the modest village shop that serves as the meeting place of the villagers, who are weathering the repercussions of the economic crisis with humour, genuine human warmth as well as bitterness. Many of them no longer believe that their lives would improve, and worry about the future generations, since the region has experiences a huge immigration of young people to the West – Nikola already addressed the Serbian economic exodus to Switzerland in his short documentary, Kanton Jugoslawien.

The filmmakers told the viewers that the inhabitants of Sirća welcomed the film crew heartily, the village is lifeless and the filming enlivened the atmosphere a great deal. Some villagers also brought along their grandchildren as they wanted them to be featured on film. Many of them showed off their skills to the film crew and talked about their lives, which the directors subtly captured on film. They also worried how the protagonists would receive the film. The screening was quite solemn; some of the villagers had not seen a film in cinema for ages. It was needless to worry; the director and scriptwriter Corina Schwingruber Ilić explained that the protagonists were thrilled with the results. 

Andraž Jež

Photo: Iztok Dimc

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