The Serbian feature film Virus of Pathological Kindness, directed by Predrag Ličina and produced by Đorđe Vranješ, will premiere on August 19th as part of the Open Air program of the 32nd Sarajevo Film Festival, which takes place from August 14th to August 21st.
The film is set in Zagreb in 1983, where during one winter night the life of the main character Zorka Vasiljević is changed by the arrival of an unusual man who claims to have traveled from the future in order to prevent a pandemic of the Pathological Kindness Virus. The film combines elements of science fiction, satire and black comedy in a time travel story.
The screenplay was written by Predrag Ličina based on his own story of the same name from his short story collection “Bljuzga u sumrak”(“Slush at Dusk”, Jesenski and Turk, 2022). The film was shot in Pančevo, Serbia. The main roles are played by Hristina Popović and Nikola Đuričko, and the film also stars Gordan Kičić, Tihana Lazović Trifunović, Goran Bogdan and Rade Šerbedžija.
The producer of the film is Đorđe Vranješ, the co-producer is Vanja Sremac, and the associate producer is Aleš Pavlin. The film was created in a Serbian-Croatian co-production between Stiglitz Productions and Terminal 3.
Directors of photography are Saša Petković and Dragan Radetić, the editor is Vanja Kovačević, the set designer is Dušan Radoičić, the costume designer is Selena Orb, the sound designers Igor Suzić and Zoran Maksimović, the music was composed by Jura Ferina and Pavao Miholjević, the visual effects supervisor is David Gatarić, and the colorist Goran Todorić.
The film was realized with the support of Film Center Serbia and the Croatian Audiovisual Center (HAVC), with the financial support of the Office for Human Rights and Rights of National Minorities of the Government of the Republic of Croatia – Serbian National Council. Virus of Pathological Kindness is the second feature film by Predrag Ličina, after The Last Serb in Croatia.
Cinematic distribution of the film is planned for November in Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro.
Photo: Marija Piroški and Jovana Pantelić