Mladen Kovačević

Movies

Another Spring
Director
In 1972 Yugoslavia became the site of Europe’s last smallpox epidemic. This gripping archival documentary, aptly described by its creators as a medical thriller, reconstructs the dramatic events of those spring months, and viewers will find it difficult not to draw comparisons with the worldwide events of the past two years.
Merry Christmas, Yiwu
Director
Communist ideals have long lost their value in Yiwu, a city with 600 Christmas factories, in which Christmas as we know it is produced for the entire world. With rising wages, the workers in Christmas factories can now afford newest iPhones, but they still live in crowded dormitories. All migrants in their own country, nostalgic for some place far away, some miss their families left in hometowns, other miss their friends and lovers from the factories when they go home for holidays. Young generation is already tired of long factory hours, chemical fumes and glitter particles, and they do not care for their parents' wishes to get educated. Stuck in between Chinese tradition and the newly discovered Chinese dream, they want their own businesses, to be rich, to be independent, to be in love.
4 Years in 10 Minutes
Director
On mysterious cassettes forgotten or left behind for 17 years, a disturbing filmic material is revealed. Accompanied by the extracts of a diary written by the protagonist standing behind the camera, the images translate into a singular and transformative intimate experience. Mladen Kovačević constructs a film using sequences retracing a Serbian expedition to Mount Everest. Images from another time, shot in the almost alien, mystical landscapes reveal enigmatic characters, perilous circumstances and the suspense of confrontation to the real limits of human capabilities. An adventure film, as rigorous as it is melancholic, based on skilful editing.
Wall of Death, and All That
Writer
She is spending her life defying gravity on the vertical road that literary has no beginning or end, where she has nothing to hope for, where only injury or death can happen to her. She has only her memories.
Wall of Death, and All That
Director
She is spending her life defying gravity on the vertical road that literary has no beginning or end, where she has nothing to hope for, where only injury or death can happen to her. She has only her memories.
Unplugged
Director
In the heart of the Balkans, where making music is an integral part of life, meet Pera, a wonderful old farmer who seems to know everything about everything; Josip, inventor of numerous new instruments; and the amazing Vera, greatest leaf virtuoso of them all. Three musicians – a glimpse into the unknown, all– but – lost art of leaf playing. Filled with stunning music as vital yet as fragile as the perishable instrument on which it's played, this lovely film is as much about joy, living in the moment, being alive, as it is about making music. Seeing it, you may just want to go find some leaves – and make some music yourself. - Charlie Cockey
Unplugged
Writer
In the heart of the Balkans, where making music is an integral part of life, meet Pera, a wonderful old farmer who seems to know everything about everything; Josip, inventor of numerous new instruments; and the amazing Vera, greatest leaf virtuoso of them all. Three musicians – a glimpse into the unknown, all– but – lost art of leaf playing. Filled with stunning music as vital yet as fragile as the perishable instrument on which it's played, this lovely film is as much about joy, living in the moment, being alive, as it is about making music. Seeing it, you may just want to go find some leaves – and make some music yourself. - Charlie Cockey