On 18 November, a Q&A followed the screening of Requiem for Mrs J, a powerful drama examining the transition process in former Yugoslav countries against the backdrop of one woman’s personal crisis. Host Toni Cahunek talked to director and writer Bojan Vuletić who explained that after 2000 Serbia had undergone a period of break-neck transition. The new political and economic systems are causing far-reaching changes to the value system, which inevitably leads to a total identity crisis. Vuletić wished to cinematically portray the feelings of people deprived of their rights. Namely, many people still believe it is politically incorrect to openly declare that something’s not quite right.

The Serbian-Macedonian-Bulgarian co-production was shot on several locations. The disused factory, the setting for the nostalgic and desperate ramblings of Mrs J (brilliantly played by legendary Serbian actress Mirjana Karanović), is situated in Sofia, while most of the interior scenes were shot in Belgrade.

Andraž Jež

Photo Iztok Dimc