After almost forty years of absence, Marina Abramović returns to the place where she was born and where grew up, the place she left or almost escaped from. Unusual circumstances of Marina’s return to Belgrade after four decades, the Serbian capital being the final destination of her traveling retrospective exhibition Cleaner, served as an occasion and inspiration for the film, directed and written by Boris Miljković, whose domestic premiere is scheduled for Saturday, December 5th, at the MOJ OFF online cinema.
The world premiere of Homecoming – Marina Abramović and Her Children took place at this year’s festival in Sarajevo, followed by screenings at prominent international film festivals – from Jihlav in the Czech Republic, Mostra de Valencia in Spain, to Sao Paulo Mostra in Brazil and the Warsaw Film Festival.
Her life and work have often been prominent topics in almost all media over the past decade, and upon her return to Belgrade, Marina brings with her, in addition to all her work, a truck load o feelings, memories and bitterness.
Following the last destination of the retrospective exhibition, director and screenwriter Boris Miljković also shows different phases and artistic challenges of Marina Abramović, as well as her orientation towards cooperation with generations of young artists through the concept of re-performance.
“This is an outpatient film that follows the emotion of the heroine, directly, with small comments, sympathizing with her feelings, as it happens when you follow the life of truly great artists. We are not trying to discover, interpret or illuminate, we are the ones she interprets, discovers or enlightens. This should be a sketch of her and us. About Marina and her children,” the film’s director points out.
An intimate story about the overall life of the artist, it describes the dilemmas that occupied Abramović during her youth in Belgrade, her romantic choices and finally a special kind of artistic loneliness that is almost always associated with the concept of excellence.
The film was realized by the company Akcija produkcija (producer Jovana Karaulić) in cooperation with LLC Abramovic. The director of photography is Andreja Leko, the editor is Nikola Purić, and the composer and sound designer is Petar Antonović. The project was supported by Film Center Serbia and Radio Television of Serbia, with the sponsorship of Raiffeisen Bank and Mercator Idea.