Makedonskiot del od pekolot

Vatroslav Mimica began his career as the mastermind behind some of the finest products of the legendary Zagreb school of animated film in the 1950s and early 1960s. He then carried his deliriously playful directorial approach over to live-action film, which resulted most notably in Kaja, ubit cu te!, an allegorical tale of (fascist) evil and one of the strangest and most beautiful examples of Yugoslavian surrealism. Makedonskiot del od pekolot represents the pinnacle of yet another stage in Mimica’s career, in which he focused on transformative historical events, and the light of hope that shines even through the thickest darkness. Based on a real-life event from early 1943, Makedonskiot del od pekolot depicts the atrocities carried out by the Bulgarian fascist occupying forces in Macedonia on the civilian population. Having received information that the inhabitants of a small Macedonian village are hiding a legendary partisan, the fascists threaten to execute twenty-five villagers selected at random, unless they hand over the resistance fighter. Despite all the threats and torture and despite gradually realizing that they ultimately will not be able to escape certain death, the villagers proudly resist. Mimica elevates their heroic stance into a psychologically profound, near-mythological, heartbreaking examination of the clash between the ethics of power and the power of ethics. (Viennale)