Director

Srdan Golubović

Serbia, France, Germany, Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina | 2020 | 120 min | Serbian

• Producer Jelena Mitrović, Boris T. Matić, Lana Matić, Alexander Ris, Cedomir Kolar, Marc Baschet, Danis Tanović
• Production Company Film House Bas Celik, A.S.A.P. Films, Neue Mediopolis Filmproduktion, Vertigo, Propeler Film, SCCA/ Pro.BA, ZDF/Arte
• Screenplay Srdan Golubović, Ognjen Sviličić
• Cinematography Aleksandar Ilić
• Editing Petar Marković
• Sound Erik Mischijew, Corina Fleig, Bruno Tarrière
• Cast Goran Bogdan, Boris Isaković, Nada Šargin, Milica Janevski
• Contacts

  The Match Factory

  info@matchfactory.de

About the Film

After Circles, which received the Special Jury Prize at Sundance in 2013, Srdan Golubović delivers us Father, a powerful portrait of a man raging against the system.

The opening scene is among the most viscerally upsetting openings imaginable, setting the stage for Srdan Golubović’s steely, resonant, straightforward Romanian social realist saga. The story then morphs into an on-foot road movie before returning to the anger at the heartless system that tramples the simple, ordinary man, reminiscent of Ken Loach’s treatment of social issues.

In a small town in Serbia, Nikola (well-known Bosnian actor Goran Bogdan), a day laborer and father of two, is ordered to give up his children to social services after poverty and hunger drive his wife to commit a desperate act. Until he can provide adequate conditions for their upbringing, the children will be placed in foster care. Powerless to fight his cause at the local level, Nikola sets out on a 300-km road trip to Belgrade, determined to present his case to a national ministry.

During this 5-day odyssey, we see the result of the corrupt governments from which the country has suffered for 20 years: deserted factories, abandoned gas stations, neglected houses, and deteriorating roads. He meets both kind-hearted and not-so-kind people.

Testing his body and mind through this quasi-religious pilgrimage, we realize that Nikola is not just a social justice warrior, but a desperate father who wants his kids back. “My children must know I fought for them.”

Inspired by a true story, and driven by Bogdan’s commanding and reserved performance, Father leaves us off-balance, just as is Nikola. While his spirit may be beleaguered, he remains unbroken. The film won the Panorama Audience Award at the 2020 Berlinale.

Nicole Guillemet