Vladimir Perović

In a remote mountainous region an ancient tool for igniting the fire, an ognjilo is still being used by a highlander. As his days, months and seasons go by in a slow pace, a piece of his land is being settled by an odd metal neighbor. The electricity arrived to the region! Or – only traversed it…? The highlander’s environment has been changed. Will this change touch his life too!?

First sins of early childhood, boyish adventures, excitements of the first love, imaginative mischiefs and conflicts with the world of adults… A kind of Tom Sawyer-like adventures of the two boys from a small Serbian town in the 1950s.

A big modern house has only two inhabitants: an elderly couple, humble peasants. They seem rather lost and not too much accustomed to such a space. They are waiting for somebody. The objects and sounds in the house help us realize that "somebody" means: the son, daughter-in-law and grandson, living in France... Coloring Easter eggs (Orthodox folk custom) for all of them, knitting the sweater for grandson, waiting. Will the awaited ones come...!? Eternal, metaphysical waiting.

An arable field barely a small room size, mountainous grass sprouting between the stones, a wild pear tree all grown with brush-wood but still so apposite to be engraft, water appearing from the very rocks, a colony of bees fugitives settled into an oak-tree cavity, connection with the world from a high top – all this means the life, all this is a miracle of the life, all this seems to be a God blessed gift in the harsh karst of Montenegro.

In a timeless landscape that looks like the beginning of the creation, a shepherd communicates with his goats and sheep the way he would do with people. Twenty or so different cries, screams, chirps, babbles, mumbles, whispers, whistles and other ways of communicating, to a human ear might sound like an incomprehensible cacophony, but for these goats and sheep it is a sign of agreement, a system, a language, a rhythmic sermon and a melody they look forward, understand and obey - A perfect harmony between man, animals and nature.

In the film, we see at first glance a harmless pet, a Great Dane-Harlequin breed. Then we see the man, the trainer, and we hear him order several times: Slaughter it, slaughter it! In the end, the dog becomes an obedient executioner, and it kills bloodthirsty. At that time, a bloody war was being prepared, and different, far more sinister trainers appeared: national leaders. They trained the brain of the Balkan man to kill and slaughter... The film is not about dogs, it is not a document or a testimony, but a metaphor about the transfer of evil from ideologues to executors.

First sins of early childhood, boyish adventures, excitements of the first love, imaginative mischiefs and conflicts with the world of adults… A kind of Tom Sawyer-like adventures of the two boys from a small Serbian town in the 1950s.

In a remote mountainous region an ancient tool for igniting the fire, an ognjilo is still being used by a highlander. As his days, months and seasons go by in a slow pace, a piece of his land is being settled by an odd metal neighbor. The electricity arrived to the region! Or – only traversed it…? The highlander’s environment has been changed. Will this change touch his life too!?

In a remote mountainous region an ancient tool for igniting the fire, an ognjilo is still being used by a highlander. As his days, months and seasons go by in a slow pace, a piece of his land is being settled by an odd metal neighbor. The electricity arrived to the region! Or – only traversed it…? The highlander’s environment has been changed. Will this change touch his life too!?

In a remote mountainous region an ancient tool for igniting the fire, an ognjilo is still being used by a highlander. As his days, months and seasons go by in a slow pace, a piece of his land is being settled by an odd metal neighbor. The electricity arrived to the region! Or – only traversed it…? The highlander’s environment has been changed. Will this change touch his life too!?

A big modern house has only two inhabitants: an elderly couple, humble peasants. They seem rather lost and not too much accustomed to such a space. They are waiting for somebody. The objects and sounds in the house help us realize that "somebody" means: the son, daughter-in-law and grandson, living in France... Coloring Easter eggs (Orthodox folk custom) for all of them, knitting the sweater for grandson, waiting. Will the awaited ones come...!? Eternal, metaphysical waiting.

A big modern house has only two inhabitants: an elderly couple, humble peasants. They seem rather lost and not too much accustomed to such a space. They are waiting for somebody. The objects and sounds in the house help us realize that "somebody" means: the son, daughter-in-law and grandson, living in France... Coloring Easter eggs (Orthodox folk custom) for all of them, knitting the sweater for grandson, waiting. Will the awaited ones come...!? Eternal, metaphysical waiting.

An arable field barely a small room size, mountainous grass sprouting between the stones, a wild pear tree all grown with brush-wood but still so apposite to be engraft, water appearing from the very rocks, a colony of bees fugitives settled into an oak-tree cavity, connection with the world from a high top – all this means the life, all this is a miracle of the life, all this seems to be a God blessed gift in the harsh karst of Montenegro.

An arable field barely a small room size, mountainous grass sprouting between the stones, a wild pear tree all grown with brush-wood but still so apposite to be engraft, water appearing from the very rocks, a colony of bees fugitives settled into an oak-tree cavity, connection with the world from a high top – all this means the life, all this is a miracle of the life, all this seems to be a God blessed gift in the harsh karst of Montenegro.

In a timeless landscape that looks like the beginning of the creation, a shepherd communicates with his goats and sheep the way he would do with people. Twenty or so different cries, screams, chirps, babbles, mumbles, whispers, whistles and other ways of communicating, to a human ear might sound like an incomprehensible cacophony, but for these goats and sheep it is a sign of agreement, a system, a language, a rhythmic sermon and a melody they look forward, understand and obey - A perfect harmony between man, animals and nature.

In a timeless landscape that looks like the beginning of the creation, a shepherd communicates with his goats and sheep the way he would do with people. Twenty or so different cries, screams, chirps, babbles, mumbles, whispers, whistles and other ways of communicating, to a human ear might sound like an incomprehensible cacophony, but for these goats and sheep it is a sign of agreement, a system, a language, a rhythmic sermon and a melody they look forward, understand and obey - A perfect harmony between man, animals and nature.

In the film, we see at first glance a harmless pet, a Great Dane-Harlequin breed. Then we see the man, the trainer, and we hear him order several times: Slaughter it, slaughter it! In the end, the dog becomes an obedient executioner, and it kills bloodthirsty. At that time, a bloody war was being prepared, and different, far more sinister trainers appeared: national leaders. They trained the brain of the Balkan man to kill and slaughter... The film is not about dogs, it is not a document or a testimony, but a metaphor about the transfer of evil from ideologues to executors.

The hero is the loneliest little girl in the world. She has no company. She is the only pupil at the school, as well as the last child in a beautiful ancient village. Only elderly people around her as well as an archaic kind of life. Her journey from her house to the school (the school only for her) reveals the real string of motions, colors, sounds, folk customs, habits, objects, buildings, faces… all that seems to be slowly fading to disappearance. The film is a metaphor for vanishing of a nation.

The hero is the loneliest little girl in the world. She has no company. She is the only pupil at the school, as well as the last child in a beautiful ancient village. Only elderly people around her as well as an archaic kind of life. Her journey from her house to the school (the school only for her) reveals the real string of motions, colors, sounds, folk customs, habits, objects, buildings, faces… all that seems to be slowly fading to disappearance. The film is a metaphor for vanishing of a nation.

Once a year in the small coastal town of Perast, Montenegro, one out of many cocks in the region participates in a very particular event. Being the chosen one, he will face unexpected experiences. This is the story of his life in the environment of human rules and rites.

Once a year in the small coastal town of Perast, Montenegro, one out of many cocks in the region participates in a very particular event. Being the chosen one, he will face unexpected experiences. This is the story of his life in the environment of human rules and rites.

The three parts of the documentary are connected by the scenery of the Boka Kotorská bay and the human will on a mountain trail. Three men hike along the narrow paths on steep slopes above the coastline. The camera follows their steps and without words or music, the film asks about the purpose of their walk. A man's paces are counted by the tower clockwork. In the Watchman episode, the second man descends to the coast to night-watch a bankrupt factory. In Smoke, the third man sets fire to the last inhabited house in a mountain village.

The three parts of the documentary are connected by the scenery of the Boka Kotorská bay and the human will on a mountain trail. Three men hike along the narrow paths on steep slopes above the coastline. The camera follows their steps and without words or music, the film asks about the purpose of their walk. A man's paces are counted by the tower clockwork. In the Watchman episode, the second man descends to the coast to night-watch a bankrupt factory. In Smoke, the third man sets fire to the last inhabited house in a mountain village.

The three parts of the documentary are connected by the scenery of the Boka Kotorská bay and the human will on a mountain trail. Three men hike along the narrow paths on steep slopes above the coastline. The camera follows their steps and without words or music, the film asks about the purpose of their walk. A man's paces are counted by the tower clockwork. In the Watchman episode, the second man descends to the coast to night-watch a bankrupt factory. In Smoke, the third man sets fire to the last inhabited house in a mountain village.

Cuce, the most arid, most remote and most deserted region of Montenegro. Where 17th century met the 21st, where the reality is often surreal. One goat shepherd mourns for heroic times and great men... One man builds a road with his bare hands... One office is always open... One young woman is ready to live in a cave for love... One cow-boy is obsessed by roots... One charcoal maker surveys world politics... How long can this authenticity of life remain untouched...!?

Cuce, the most arid, most remote and most deserted region of Montenegro. Where 17th century met the 21st, where the reality is often surreal. One goat shepherd mourns for heroic times and great men... One man builds a road with his bare hands... One office is always open... One young woman is ready to live in a cave for love... One cow-boy is obsessed by roots... One charcoal maker surveys world politics... How long can this authenticity of life remain untouched...!?

Cuce, the most arid, most remote and most deserted region of Montenegro. Where 17th century met the 21st, where the reality is often surreal. One goat shepherd mourns for heroic times and great men... One man builds a road with his bare hands... One office is always open... One young woman is ready to live in a cave for love... One cow-boy is obsessed by roots... One charcoal maker surveys world politics... How long can this authenticity of life remain untouched...!?

The protagonist of the story is a place of calmness, purity and serenity: an ancient shrine on an islet, dedicated to Our Lady. It is facing a strange antagonist: speed, tumult, superficiality, and vanity of the modern era. Heavenly vs. mundane, temporarily vs. eternal, material versus spiritual…

The protagonist of the story is a place of calmness, purity and serenity: an ancient shrine on an islet, dedicated to Our Lady. It is facing a strange antagonist: speed, tumult, superficiality, and vanity of the modern era. Heavenly vs. mundane, temporarily vs. eternal, material versus spiritual…

He is no ordinary hiker. Next point, next prayer. To climb the top – to be closer to God, to reach some elemental knowledge. Uphill, uphill… to the very top, to better understand the people down there.

He is no ordinary hiker. Next point, next prayer. To climb the top – to be closer to God, to reach some elemental knowledge. Uphill, uphill… to the very top, to better understand the people down there.