Serbian film Then Comes the Evening by Maja Novaković is continuing its sucessful festival run, winning the Special Jury Prize at the recently concluded 13th Cinema Vérité Iran International Documentary Film Festival in Tehran,
The documentary depicts the lives of two old women living in isolation in the hills of Eastern Bosnia. Nature is an entity that grandmothers “talk to,” listen to, and whom they respect. The film highlights an intangible cultural heritage through the depiction of fairy tales and rituals against bad weather, hail and storm. It shows the simplicity and purity of their lives as well as their painstaking labor. In the day-to-day affairs they perform, the sublimity and difficulty of these activities are revealed and brought to life. The film deals with everyday life through genre scenes of rural existence, showing the care and closeness of two elderly women, both in their mutual relations and in relation to nature.
Maja Novaković directed and wrote the screenplay, as well as filling the role of the producer, together with Milana Milosavljevića. The film stars Vinka Radić and Obrenija Radić. The DOP is Jasna Prolić, and her and Maja Novaković divided the camera duties. The film was edited by Marija Kovačina. The film was created under the auspices of Akademski filmski centar (AFC) and Dom Kulture Studentski grad.
The film has so far been screened at the Visions du Reel in Nion, Hot Docs, Sarajevsko Film Festival as well as festivals in Drama, Baku, Reykjavik and Turin. It has recently won the audience award at the Entrevues Belfort – Festival International du Film.