director character played by Sergej Trifunovic] is, what it is exactly that he’s doing (what’s being done to us) and it’s supposed to frighten and threaten Milos (and the viewer). In the film, this scene is preceded by Vukmir’s monologue, which basically explains what the scene is about – it explains the film, Serbian cinema in general, our economy and everything else, from the standpoint of all “Vukmirs” who lead us and govern our destinies guided by reasons unknown and unacceptable to me.
Have audiences thus far understood your inten- tions with the scene? For many, this scene has overshadowed the rest of the film and it rep- resents a stumbling block in its reception, but for those who know how to watch a film, to make a basic distinction between positive and nega- tive characters, and for those who are able to read the basic and not-so- hidden meanings, the rest of the film, after the NBP scene, will be stronger, more complex and emotional, more affecting and more to the point because of that scene. It has never been my aim to shock, provoke or intentionally push any barriers, which free artistic expression shouldn’t have anyway. I didn’t plan to break any barriers, but merely to take my deepest and most sincere feelings and impale them right on the screen.
Tell us about some of the other problems you’ve run into. Is it true that you had to leave Germany because of the film? We did not have to leave Germany. The problem was that ARRI Film Labs in Germany refused to deliver the 35mm prints of our film, because of its content. They destroyed those prints instead. The same thing happened with the Magyar Film Lab in Budapest, although we made an effort to acquaint them with the project, and they initially agreed to do the job. It was a question of whether we’d get the film prints in time for our world premiere. Luckily, we got the prints from the Kodak Cinelabs in Budapest only ten days before the premiere at SXSW [South By Southwest film festival] in Austin. Problems of this kind have followed A Serbian Film from the start, and they keep following it. At Lon- don’s Frightfest, the film had to be taken off the program at the last minute
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because the organizers did not have enough time
to prepare the version with the four minutes of cuts imposed by the BBFC [British Board of Film Classification]. Right now, a Serbian state commission is investigating whether there was anything improper or illegal in the making and contents of our film.
So, you’ll allow your film to be cut for some releases? What do you
think about such demands? Sadly, censorship in the arts is a necessary evil that cinema has been living with for decades.
We’ve accepted it as a principle, and we can only fight from one case to another, hoping (with small chances) that something will
be changed, but I’m afraid it’ll always be there. Censorship and political cor- rectness are so schizophrenic that they differ from one country to another, from territory to territory, from religion to religion, and after every 100 miles you encounter another “moral,” “righteous” and “legal” codex which decides what’s “good” for us.
Do you consider the film dangerous? In times of the fascism of political correctness that we live in, anything can be labelled dangerous. In such times, they are free to label a film like this a nuclear threat. But let’s not forget that a film can never surpass reality and that real threats are around us, carefully disguised.
Are you working on another film now, and will it share a sim- ilar aesthetic to A Serbian Film? Take a similar approach? The approach – yes, certainly. The aesthetics – it depends on the theme and idea I’m dealing with. One thing is for sure: I’ll approach each and every film I do with the same energy and attitude! I have an idea for a film that I’ll work on pretty soon. It won’t be as horror-like as A Serbian Film but it will have the same power and attitude that A Serbian Film has. I think that my film can open doors to many films from Serbia and quality authors coming from our country.
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