The Serbian short film The Service by director and screenwriter Andrej Šepetkovski won the Grand Prix for the best film in all categories at the 15th International Light of the World Festival in Yaroslavl, where Šepetkovski was also a laureate in the “Orthodox Film” category. The festival brought together more than 4,000 films from 112 countries, and 100 films were shown in the competition program.
The film tells the story of two members of the Security Service who investigate a remote women’s monastery in the mid-1960s USSR, in search of a suspect Hieromonk named Damaskin. The agents will have to face the abbess Mother Seraphim, as well as their own dilemmas.
The film was produced by the companies “Ison film”, “Archangel digital”, “Art & Popcorn”, “Cinnamon films” and “Spas”, and the cast includes Vesna Trivalić, Mladen Nelević, Đorđe Kreća and Julija Petković. The director of photography is Goran Volarević, set designer Aljoša Spajić, editor Vladimir Radovanović and costume designer Momirka Bailović.
Before the triumph in Yaroslavl, The Service was awarded at several international festivals: it won an award in Malta, the Golden Knight award in Moscow, the award for the best European film in Trebinje, the award for the best domestic short film in Prokuplje, the award at the Christian film festival in Iasi (Romania), as well as the award for the best short film at the Serbian film festival in Chicago. Actress Vesna Trivalić won the award for best actress at the festivals in Mojkovac and Chicago.
Service will also be shown in the competition program of the March Short Metro Festival in Belgrade.