After years of spiralling addiction, 32-year-old Dejan arrives at an isolated monastery commune run by the strict but magnetic Father Branko. The commune treats addiction through labour, discipline, obedience and faith; immersed in a rigid daily routine with the help of his humble guardian Mionica, Dejan begins his painful journey toward recovery. But when a disturbing video surfaces showing a patient violently enforcing the rules, the outside world takes notice and Dejan is forced to choose between protecting the system that gave him purpose or confronting the truth he can no longer ignore.

This is the synopsis for Our Father [+leggi anche:
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trailer
scheda film], the first fiction film by Serbian filmmaker Goran Stanković, set to world-premiere in the Discovery section of the Toronto International Film Festival, which kicked off yesterday, 4 September.

Although Our Father is his debut narrative feature, Stanković’s career spans more than a decade. He created and co-directed several award-winning television series: Morning Changes Everything and Bad Blood, both for the Serbian broadcast RTS, and as mentioned most recently, Operation Sabre, which was rewarded at Canneseries and other festivals such as Serial Killer (see the news). Stanković is also the co-founder of Belgrade-based outfit This and That Productions, whose previous film Mother Mara [+leggi anche:
recensione
scheda film] world-premiered at Sarajevo in 2024.

Our Father stars Vucic Perovic, Boris Isaković, Goran Markovic and Jasna Žalica. Production duties were handled by Serbia's This and That Productions, in co-production with Italy's Nightswim, Croatia's PomPom Film, North Macedonia's Dream Factory, Montenegro's Kino, Bosnia and Herzegovina's Novi Film and Serbia's Cineplanet. International sales are handled by Croatia's Split Screen.

Check out our exclusive trailer below: