Ivan Lalić

Once upon a time there lived a journalist. Eager to spark interest in his boss’s newspaper, he published news of a colourful bird, more like a parrot than a chicken, less like an ostrich than a swan. No one could work out the origin of this strange bird and a web of sensational stories soon spun, but it burst the moment it came out that the witty journalist repainted an ordinary duck. From that moment on every lie journalists tell is called a ‘canard’. Our film leads directly to the nest of one such duck, in Bucharest, where the inform-propaganda spin doctor Pavel Judin, instructed by wise managerial orders and Moscow, overblows this featherless bird to the pleasure of ones and the derision of others.

A three-part anthology film. 1) AMSTERDAM: Jovke and his two friends try to make some quick cash before going off to army. At the same time, he tries to establish communication both with his catatonic father and the girl he likes. 2) TIE REQUIRED: While drudging at the docks with two inseparable friends of his, Neša is waiting for a waiter's job at the bar where his mother works. After not being allowed to a birthday party, the trio decides to look for fun somewhere else. 3) ABSOLUTE PITCH: An unemployed paleonthologist spends his nights sewing dresses for his beloved one. When she sets off to countryside for work and doesn't call back, he becomes suspicious and decides to solve this sudden departure on his own. The movie was nominated for a Student Academy Award in 1991.