Survivance

Director's statement

I was born in 1979, a year old when Tito died and was 11 years old when Milosevic came to power, 12 when the war in the former Yugoslavia started, 16 when it nished, 20 when NATO bombed us, 21 when we nally got rid of Milosevic, 24 when our Prime Minister was assassinated, and today at the ripe old age of 37, I want to speak of my country, from a very personal angle, and from a very precise point of departure - the place where I live.

Why from there? Because I have been privileged to grow up observing Serbia through the beliefs and actions of a woman who thought it her responsibility to speak up about things that were happening in it. Because my mother and I have always shared this language of politics - she was a student leader in 1968, and so was I in the 90-ties. Because my family home was the gathering place for intellectual discussions, activist meetings and often just refuge from the madness taking place outside. Because this home is in the center of Belgrade and the things happening in Serbia today. Because the more I stare at the locked doors in our living room that I have been faced with all my life, the more I realise how much about Serbia can be understood by talking about divided spaces. Between those seeking to rewrite the past, and those attempting to acknowledge it. And a way of understanding my mother’s life is her attempts at bridging this divide.

As I grew, I have come to feel that the personal impulse to act is inspired less by lofty ideals of freedom, justice and equality, and more from the small things we personally hold dear - we act to protect the fabric of our life, the family that gathers on Christmas Eve, the neighbors we grew up with, the trees in front of our house, the roots that connect us.

As a public, we usually have external access to stories of political struggle. Activism takes place in public spaces, and it is a group experience of street demonstrations and inspiring speeches. Having grown up as the daughter of a very visible political activist and professor, I needed to make a lm about this experience, but I wanted to build it around a private dialogue. And to get to the heart of civic activism, of engagement as an intimate act, a personal reckoning we each make with ourself when choosing how to live our lives.

- Mila Turajlić

PRESS KIT

Festival Awards

• 2017 - IDFA - Best Feature-Length Documentary
• 2017 - Doc NYC - New York (États-Unis) - Sélection officielle

• 2018 - MILLENIUM FILM FESTIVAL - Objectif d’or / Winner of International Competition 
• 2018 - ZAGREBDOX - Fipresci Jury Award 
• 2018 - ZAGREBDOX - HT Audience Award 
• 2018 - ZAGREBDOX - Golden Stamp for Best Film in Regional Competition
• 2018 - SEEfest LA - Special Jury Mention 
• 2018 - SEEfest LA - Best Cinematography in a Documentary Film 

• 2017 - FIPRESCI Serbia - Best Serbian Documentary 
• 2018 - International Human Rights & Documentary Festival One World Romania - One World Romania 11 Award
• 2018 - SALEM FILM FEST - Special Jury Award 
• 2018 - SALEM FILM FEST - Editing Award
• 2018 -  BELGRADE DOCUMENTARY AND SHORT FILM FESTIVAL - Best Editing Award 
• 2018 - BELGRADE DOCUMENTARY AND SHORT FILM FESTIVAL - Best Sound Design Award
• 2018 - RIVER RUN FILM FESTIVAL - Best Director Award 
• 2018 - GOEAST - FESTIVAL OF CENTRAL AND EAST EUROPEAN FILM - Award of the Federal Foreign Office for Cultural Diversity 
• 2018 - BALKAN FLORENCE EXPRESS - Balkan Florence Bridges Award
• 2018 - FESTIVAL CINEMATOGRÁFICO INTERNACIONAL DEL URUGUAY - Best Documentary - Human Rights Cinema Competition
• 2018 - IF ISTANBUL INTERNATIONAL INDEPENDENT FILM FESTIVAL - Special mention 
• 2018 - FIFDH International Film Festival and Forum on Human Rights - Special mention
• 2018 - TRT International Documentary Days - Republic Of Turkey, Ministry Of Culture & Tourism Special Prize 
• 2018 - Etats généraux du film documentaire - Lussas (France)
• 2018 - DOK.FEST Internationales Dokumentarfilmfestival München - Munich (Allemagne) - Sélection officielle
• 2018 - Al Este Film Festival - Best Documentary (Jury Prize)
• 2018 - Mediterranean Film Festival - Grand Prix
• 2018 - Festival International du Film de La Rochelle - Première française
• 2018 - Festival International du Film de Nancy - Sélection officielle
• 2018 - Beyond the Borders Documentary Festival, Greece - Best socio-political documentary
• 2018 - Fibula, Croatia - Best Documentary
• 2018 - CinEast, Luxembourg - Audience Award

Team