The feature film Until the Day Ends, directed by Jelena Maksimović, was selected for the official competition program of the Orizzonti Venice Film Festival.
Jelena Maksimović is the first director from Serbia who, after Soja Jovanović and her film Eagles Fly Early from 1966, will present a feature film at the Venice Film Festival.
At the heart of the film is the story of two young people whose lives intersect in the contemporary social context. Their encounter opens up issues of personal choices, mutual relationships and the search for freedom.
“Lena and Stefan come from opposite worlds, but they are united by the same aspiration – to be free. From family chaos, through a city in turmoil, their escape leads to nature, the only place where they can find peace and glimpse a common political horizon. Told in one breath of youth, the film explores the boundaries of melodrama, comedy and crime film,” says the director.
The roles in the film are played by Lena Trifunović, Andrija Krivokapić, Irina Hotomski, Stefan Tarabić, Miodrag Dragičević, Nataša Čakardić, Raško Milatović, Marko Džudović, Aleksandar Milošević and Milica Institucija.
The screenplay is written by Jelena Maksimović, Ivan Salatić and Olga Dimitrijević. The director of photography is Paul Spengemann, set designer Livija Mikić, costume designers Milica Kolarić and Barbi Drmota, editor Jan Klemsche, and sound designer Vladimir Živković.
The film is an international co-production of the production companies Taurunum Film (Serbia), PREMIERstudio Plus (Bulgaria), Staragara (Slovenia), Meander Film (Montenegro), Kelek Film (Germany) and Dinaridi Film (Croatia). The producer of the film is Jelena Angelovski, and the co-producers are Nikolay Mutafchiev, Miha Černec, Jožko Rutar, Dušan Kasalica, Ivan Salatić, Arda Çiltepe, Steffen Goldkamp and Tena Gojić.
The project was developed through the programs TorinoScriptLab, When East Meets West and Les Arcs Work in Progress, and was supported by Film Center Serbia, the Bulgarian National Film Center, the Slovenian Film Center, Creative Europe – MEDIA program, MOIN Film Fund Hamburg Schleswig-Holstein and the UNIQA SEE FUTURE foundation through the Female Filmmakers Support Program (FFSP).
After the world premiere at the Venice Film Festival, the film will have its Serbian premiere at the Auteur Film Festival in Belgrade.
Photo/Promo