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78 Days film image; woman fixing a girl's hair in the dark

78 Days

78 dana

Vanguard

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North American Premiere

Emilija Gašić makes a vibrant debut with this endearing dramedy following three teenage sisters coming of age in the late 90s Serbian countryside while the war rages in the background. As their father leaves for the front line, another young family arrives next door, adding to their little clique and setting the stage for exciting hangouts, new friendships, and first crushes.

Flirting with docu-fiction (the girls record home videos for their dad), Gašić expertly employs found footage techniques to capture the delightful cacophony of girlie mischief and teenage highs and lows in all their messy, hormonal glory; sibling rivalries, the occasional verbal sting, or a prank taken too far… Yet despite all the mirth, the film never loses sight of the threat looming over them. Tonally and stylistically on point, this is an astute snapshot of a lovable family trying to keep its footing during a volatile time.

 

Oct 3 & 5: Q&A with director Emilija Gasic

 

Presented by

Media Partner

Director
Cast

Viktorija Vasiljević, Milica Gicić, Tamara Gajović, Pavle Čemerikić, Jelena Djokić, Goran Bogdan

Credits
Country of Origin

Serbia

Year

2024

Language

In Serbian with English subtitles

Film Contact
Links
18+
82 min
Comedy Drama Family Relations Q&As at VIFF Women Directors
Set Sail Films

Book Tickets

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Credits & Director

Producer

Andrijana Sofranić Šućur, Miloš Ivanović, Djordje Ćirić

Screenwriter

Emilija Gašić

Cinematography

Inés Gowland

Editor

Jovana Filipović

Production Design

Maja Đuričić

Emilija Gašić headshot; 78 Days director

Emilija Gašić

Emilija Gašić is an award-winning Serbian filmmaker based in New York City. She graduated with an MFA in Cinematography from NYU Tisch School of the Arts. Emilija grew up in a small town in Yugoslavia against a background of news reports on war, a dying country, and a sense of uncertainty which deeply affected her sensibility in arts and formed her observant style in creating tension and atmosphere. Her films have been screened at renowned festivals such as Columbus International Film & Animation Festival, Maryland Film Festival, and the Oscar-qualifying Izmir Kisa Film Festival. Emilija developed her debut feature 78 Days at Venice Biennale College of Cinema 2020. In 2021, she co-wrote Mileva alongside Nicola Lanthier-Rogers, which was recognized with the Production Honorable Mention Award by the Sloan Foundation. She co-founded Istok Films with Alex Wiske and has shot numerous films internationally as a cinematographer, receiving a Nikon Storytellers Award.

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