North American Premiere
In this quietly affecting, deeply personal debut, Stefan Djordjevic subtly but notably occupies both sides of the camera, painting a delicate portrait of a young man processing the loss of his mother. On his way to reunite with family at their lake house to celebrate his grandmother’s birthday, he hits a dog with his car. As he rescues and nurtures the wounded animal back to health, his own heart begins to mend.
Featuring an award-worthy canine performance and a cast of mostly the director’s own relatives, this gentle meditation on family and loss is steeped in the cadence of natural life, the passage of time, and moments of stillness. Stefan’s assured docufictional methodology and use of personal footage give the film a gravitas that is sensitively repurposed into a celebration of life — the ultimate nod to those no longer with us.
Vanguard Award, VIFF 2025; Heart of Sarajevo (Best Feature Film), Sarajevo 2025
Media Partner
Community Partner
Negrica Djordjevic, Stefan Djordjevic, Bosko Djordjevic, Djordje Davidovic, Budimir Jovanovic, Ljiljana Jovanovic
Serbia/Slovenia/Croatia
2025
In Serbian with English subtitles
Book Tickets
Credits & Director
Producer
Dragana Jovovic, Stefan Ivancic, Ognjen Glavonic, Stefan Djordjevic
Screenwriter
Stefan Djordjevic
Cinematography
Marko Brdar
Editor
Tomislav Stojanovic, Dragan von Petrovic
Production Design
Dragana Bacovic
Original Music
Ivan Judas
Stefan Djordjevic
Stefan Djordjevic (born 1987, Serbia) was introduced to film through his leading role in Nikola Lezaic’s debut Tilva Rosh (Locarno, 2010), which was nominated for the European Discovery – Prix FIPRESCI at the 2011 European Film Awards. He completed his MA in Camera at the Faculty of Dramatic Arts in Belgrade. His graduation film A Handful of Stones (2017) premiered in Cannes’ ACID program. His shorts The Last Image of Father (2019) and Portrait of a Dying Giant (2023) received international acclaim.
Filmography: The Last Image of Father (2019); Portrait of a Dying Giant (2023)
Missing VIFF? Check out what's playing at the VIFF Centre
All the Lovers in the Night
A lonely proofreader's isolated world begins to open through an unlikely friendship with a gentle physics teacher. Based on Mieko Kawakami's acclaimed novel, this luminous drama is a delicate meditation on loneliness, intimacy, and self-discovery.
Clarissa
Arie and Chuko Esiri’s Clarissa brings Mrs. Dalloway to present-day Lagos, with Sophie Okonedo playing the titular society hostess opposite David Oyelowo, Ayo Edebiri, and India Amarteifio in a Nigerian vision of class, privilege, and past lives.
Image: © Courtesy of Elevation Pictures
Opening Gala: The Debut
VIFF is honoured to open the festival with this special by-invitation screening of Jesse Eisenberg's The Debut. When meek Mona (Julianne Moore) lands a part in a musical, she fully inhabits her character, but grows increasingly untethered from reality.
Árru
Set against the mountains and fjords of northern Norway, Árru follows reindeer herder Maia as a proposed copper mine threatens her Sámi community, forcing her to fight to protect both her community and the land that sustains it.
The Beloved
When Esteban Martínez, an acclaimed director with violent tendences, invites his estranged daughter to star in his latest project, the stage is set for a familial reconnection. But as tensions flare, questions about his intentions rise to the surface.
MODES 1
Archive and the land reveal other ways of seeing, ensuring that what is meant to endure cannot be erased.