The Serbian film Without by Luka Papić has won a place in the International Competition Program for Medium and Short Films of the 51st edition of the International Documentary Film Festival Visions du Réel in Nyon, one of the most prestigious festivals of its kind in Europe. This film was created with the support of Film Center Serbia and the MEDIA – Creative Europe program. It will have its world premiere at the festival, takin place from April 7th to 14th 2022.
Belgrade painter Aleksandar Denić, in search of his lost dog, takes us on a journey through his vision of Serbia, a country in constant transition, where past and present constantly collide, churches rise next to communist monuments, and cheap apartment blocks sprout on ancient ruins. Wandering through these fragments of reality, it seems that both Aleksandar and Serbia are looking for their identities.
Luka Papić said the followingabout this film: “I had a draft for a screenplay about a painter who spends his nights looking for his lost dog and is the only character in the film without a dog – all people who are lucky have at least one and spend their days painting landscapes around unfinished churches around Belgrade, traveling with canvas as nineteenth-century painters. Then I suggested to Denić that he play the main role, that we use him as that character, taking some authentic elements from his life, and falsifying others similarly as he does in his paintings. He gladly accepted that, Đorđe Branković agreed to play his friend, a search assistant, we found characters who were willing to share their authentic stories about dogs and we started filming. ”
The protagonists are: Aleksandar Denić (painter) and Đordje Branković (Zoki).
The author team consists of: Luka Papić (script, direction, camera), Srđa Vučo (screenplay, production), Jelena Maksimović (editing), Jakov Munižaba (sound), Branislav Jovancević (music), Dimitrije Stojanović, Dušan Šaponja (dog voices), Branka Majstorović (assistant director).
The film was created under the auspices of the production company Ranch production, while the co-producers are Non-aligned Films and Cinnerent. The runtime 63 minutes.