Domovine

Geography, history, and identity intersect gracefully in the first solo directorial feature project by Maksimović, editor of numerous key independent Serbian films from the past decade. Co-written with Olga Dimitrijević, this docu-fiction hybrid follows Lenka (Jelena Angelovski, also the film’s producer) to a ski resort in northern Greece. The homeland of her grandmother, this area remains largely agricultural in spite of its winter-sports allure for tourists. The film observes two contrasting seasons – Dušan Grubins cinematography evokes the scorching heat of summer and the brisk, stark chill of the cold months – but is as much about people as it is a study of landscape. Lenkas encounters with a wide range of the region’s inhabitants yield a kind of oral tapestry, as individual stories – embellished with folkloric songs and dances – coalesce into a collective history. DOMOVINE’s various complex themes are climactically encapsulated in an extended soliloquy as Lenka muses on past atrocities and present problems in a place where the impact of long-entrenched patriarchy has been exacerbated by economic and environmental upheavals. “Trees and forests know that resources have to be nourished and shared justly,” she sighs. (Neil Young)

With A TONGUE CALLED MOTHER.

Jelena Maksimović: MILLING THE LIGHTS (2012), HEAVENS (2014), TAURUNUM BOY (2018)