The film Wind, Talk To Me directed by Stefan Đorđević won the Vanguard Award at the Vancouver International Film Festival, one of the most important and respected festivals in Canada.
Program selector Sonja Baksa pointed out that the films in the Vanguard selection represent “a new wave of gifted storytellers whose stories reveal the diversity and imagination of film expression from all over the world. Form, style and genre in these works intertwine and push boundaries, giving new life to known narratives – or creating completely new ones.”
Upon receiving the award, the director Stefan Đorđević said:
“This kind of recognition means a lot to us, because it draws attention to the voice of small, independent film, if even for a short while, and opens up space for that voice to be heard all the way across the ocean. As long as there is someone to listen, Wind will speak, and the memory of my mother Negrica will be preserved forever.”
Inspired by the author’s personal experiences, the film follows Stefan who, for the first time after his mother’s death, returns home to celebrate his grandmother’s birthday with his family. His return transforms into an emotional journey of healing as he tries to complete a film about his mother and help an injured dog. Members of his family participate in the film, including Negrica Đorđević, Boško Đorđević, Đorđe Davidović, Budimir Jovanović, Ljiljana Jovanović, Marina Davidović, Vidak Davidović, Ana Petrović, Jana Mihajlović, Jakov Mihajlović, and the dog Lija. and others.
Wind, Talk To Me has so far won a number of international awards – the Grand Prize for the best film at the Bolzano Film Festival Bozen in Italy, the prize for the best international feature film at the Guanajuato International Film Festival in Mexico, as well as the prize for the best film at the 31st Sarajevo Film Festival. The film also won the East of Europe award at the CineFest Miskolc festival in Hungary, while Marko Brdar was awarded the best cinematography at the Cyprus International Film Festival (CYIFF).
The film crew includes: director of photography Marko Brdar, editors Tomislav Stojanović and Dragan von Petrović, set designer Dragana Baćović, costume designer Biljana Grgur, sound recordist Bojan Palikuća, composer Ivan Judaš, sound design and mixing Julij Zornik, executive producer Savina Smederevac, and director supervisor Milica Tomović.
The film is supported by Film Center Serbia and the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Serbia, the Media Fund of the European Union, the Slovenian Film Center and Viba film, the Croatian Audiovisual Center and the Swiss fund Vision Sud Est. In the post-production phase, the film participated in the industrial part of the Les Arcs Work in Progress program, where it won a special award from the jury, as well as in the First Cut Lab RE-ACT 2023 workshop program. It is produced by Dragana Jovović (Non-Aligned Films) with producers Stefan Ivančić, Ognjen Glavonić and Stefan Đorđević (Katunga), and co-producers Vanja Jambrović (Restart, Croatia), Jožka Rutura (SPOK Films, Slovenia) and Miha Černec. (Staragara, Slovenia).
With this recognition, the film Wind, Talk To Me confirms its international success and its place among the most outstanding achievements of contemporary regional cinema.
Photo: promo/ Nikola Krtinić