(Besa)

Serbia, Slovenia, France, Hungary, Croatia, 2009, 106 min. / 1h46, 35 mm

production house: Baš Celik (Serbia), Vision Team (Serbia), Vertigo/Emotionfilm (Slovenia), ASAP Films (France), Tivoli-Filmprodukció (Hungary), Arkadena (Croatia)

producer: Jelena Mitrovic, Srdan Golubovic, Danijel Hocevar, Cedomir Kolar, Marc Bashet, Dragan Djurkovic, Dénes Szekeres, Slobodan Trninic

directed by: Srdjan Karanovic

written by: Srdjan Karanovic

starring: Iva Krajnc, Miki Manojlovic, Radivoje Bukvic, Nebojsa Dugalic, Ana Kostovska

cinematography: Slobodan Trninic

editing: Branka Ceperac, Mateja Rackov

set design: Goran Joksimovic

costume design: Sasa Kuljaca

music: Zoran Simjanovic

A drama about a beautiful Slovene lady Lea whose husband has been drafted and about an illiterate Albanian Azem who takes care of her because he promised to do so to her husband and about their relationship...

SUMMARY: At the beginning of World War I, Serb Filip, the principal of a school in a Serbian province, gets drafted. Before he leaves, he wants to find somebody to take care of his wife Lea, a young and good-looking rhythmics and dance teacher he met when he was studying in Western Europe. The only person who accepts his proposal is Azem, an illiterate and patriarchal Albanian, a school janitor. Azem gives Filip a besa (a word of honour he guarantees for with his life) to take care of his wife...

DIRECTOR: Srdjan Karanovic (1945, Belgrade, Serbia) holds a master’s degree in film and television directing from the Prague Film Academy FAMU. He has directed over seventy documentaries, short feature films, films made for a specific purpose and commercials. He is best-known as a director of acclaimed and award-winning feature-length films: Social Game (1972), Look at Me, You Disloyal Woman (1974), Fragrance of Wild Flowers (1978, FIPRESCI award at Cannes), Petrija’s Wreath (1980), Something In Between (1983), A Throatful of Strawberries (1985), A Film With No Name (1988), Virgina (1991) and Loving Glances (2003). He also directed one of the most popular Yugoslav TV series Grlom u jagode (1975). Karanovic’s films have been successfully showcased at all important film festivals around the world and bought by over 30 countries. Alone or in cooperation, Karanovic also wrote screenplays for all his film projects. He is the author of the book The Diary of a Film: Virgina 1981-1991.

INTERNATIONAL PREMIERE: 2010 Moscow Film Festival