16/07/2024 - The Serbian director's follow-up to Humidity is a drama with elements of suspense-thriller and melodrama, starring Ivana Vuković, Milan Marić, Jasna Đuričić and Tarik Filipović

Director Nikola Ljuca on the set of The Rattlesnakes (© Maja Medic)

Serbian director Nikola Ljuca, best known for the 2016 Berlinale Forum entry Humidity [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Nikola Ljuca
film profile], which subsequently scooped the Awards for Best Film, Best Director and Best Actor (for Miloš Timotijević) at Belgrade FEST, started filming his second feature, The Rattlesnakes, last weekend in Belgrade.

Billed as a drama with elements of suspense-thriller and melodrama, the film follows Nađa (Ivana Vuković), a former activist at a human rights NGO, who now works as a personal assistant to Milanka (Jasna Đuričić), the CEO of Magnolia. Working within a consortium of foreign investors, this large corporation purchases a factory that was once part of a giant metal-processing company – in order to turn it back into arable land. Having returned from Italy to Serbia, Boris (Milan Marić), Nađa's former boyfriend and colleague, starts working for Savić (Tarik Filipović), a businessman with political ambitions. Having been reconnected by work, Nađa and Boris are drawn into a vortex of personal, corporate and government interests – making the fate and the future of a large number of people dependent on the decisions of a few.

Ljuca says: "Writing the script together with Vuk Bošković and Staša Bajac, I knew that I wanted to direct this movie in such a way as to emphasise current social processes, present-day people and their choices, and accentuate the primarily personal decisions that they make, which – in turn – are conditioned by a ruthless capitalist order that leaves us little room for humanity. Our heroes are caught in the vortex of a long-drawn-out transition, a transition in which everything is for sale – with people being the cheapest commodity. The protagonists are faced with a choice, as we all are, of whether to become criminals or victims, or both."

Producer Nikolina Vučetić-Zečević, of Belgrade-based Biberche Productions, adds: “The Rattlesnakes is a film about people with moral integrity who can't find their way in a world of alienation, stark consumer mentality, false but unchallengeable authorities, and ubiquitous profit that devours all worldly values.”

The film will be shot in Belgrade and Kovin until 12 August, the editing is scheduled to take place in Croatia, the post-production will be done in Slovenia, while the musical score has been entrusted to Greek composer Ted Regklis. The cast also includes Boris Isaković, Miloš Lučić, Dragana Dabović and Milica Trifunović, while Mladen Teofilović serves as the DoP.

The Rattlesnakes is a co-production involving Serbia’s Biberche Productions, Croatia’s Maxima Film, Slovenia’s Perfo Production, North Macedonia’s Skopje Film Studio, Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Palchica Productions, Montenegro’s Bitter Frames Production and Greece’s Horsefly Films. It has been supported by funding bodies in all of the co-production countries, plus the Italian Re-ACT regional fund and Creative Europe – MEDIA.