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Punk's Not Dead premieres in London
London, 29 September 2011 (MIA) - "Punk's Not Dead" by Macedonian director Vladimir Blazevski will be premiered in London on October 1.
The film, which stars Jordan Simonov, Kamka Tocinovski, Toni Mihajlovski, Xhevdet Yashari and Kiril Pop Hristov, won a top prize of the East of the West competition at the 46th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival this year, MIA reports from London.
Punk's Not Dead is a black comedy telling the story of old punk rockers faced with the endless transition in Macedonia. The film follows their journey, all members of a punk rock band, to reunite after 17-year hiatus.
Film critics in Macedonia and abroad have praised the work of director Blazevski about people trying to make their dreams come true.
The screening of Punk's Not Dead in the British capital is organised by Krug Cultural Organisation
Info:
Pankot ne e mrtov (2011)
Pankot ne e mrtov - official trailer - YouTube
Review:
Variety Reviews - Punk Is Not Dead - Film Reviews - Berlin - Review by Boyd van Hoeij
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/yugoslavian-territories-pick-oscar-hopefuls-242069
London, 29 September 2011 (MIA) - "Punk's Not Dead" by Macedonian director Vladimir Blazevski will be premiered in London on October 1.
The film, which stars Jordan Simonov, Kamka Tocinovski, Toni Mihajlovski, Xhevdet Yashari and Kiril Pop Hristov, won a top prize of the East of the West competition at the 46th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival this year, MIA reports from London.
Punk's Not Dead is a black comedy telling the story of old punk rockers faced with the endless transition in Macedonia. The film follows their journey, all members of a punk rock band, to reunite after 17-year hiatus.
Film critics in Macedonia and abroad have praised the work of director Blazevski about people trying to make their dreams come true.
The screening of Punk's Not Dead in the British capital is organised by Krug Cultural Organisation
Info:
Pankot ne e mrtov (2011)
Pankot ne e mrtov - official trailer - YouTube
Review:
Punk Is Not Dead
Pankot ne e mrtov
(Macedonia)
By BOYD VAN HOEIJ
POWERED BY
A Pank Film production, in association with Vitagraf. Produced by Darko Popov. Directed by Vladimir Blazevski. Screenplay, Blazevski, in collaboration with Vardan Tozija, Darjan Pejovski.
With: Jordan Simonov, Kamka Tocinovski, Toni Mihajlovski, Xhevdet Yashari, Kiril Pop Hristov, Vladimir Tuliev, Flora Dostovska, Ratka Radmanovic. (Macedonian, English, Serbian, Albanian dialogue)
A group of crotchety codgers attempt to revive the punk-rock band they all played in 17 years earlier in "Punk Is Not Dead," from Macedonian scribe-helmer Vladimir Blazevski ("The Revolution Boulevard"). Essentially a road-trip movie, pic charts the journey across the Balkan peninsula needed to regroup all the former bandmates in time for their comeback concert. Leisurely but decidedly un-PC comedy-drama could easily lose a reel, but nonetheless has more than its fair share of cantankerous charms. Local and regional response should be lively, with chances further afield including fest and tube play.
Hot-blooded (at least in his own mind) Macedonian Mirsa (Jordan Simonov) is a 40-year-old deadbeat who is asked to reunite with his former band members for a gig organized by an NGO on the other side of the country. The opportunity to relive some of the band's former glory proves too irresistible to pass up, though -- horror of horrors -- the concert's in a town full of Albanians.
One of the characters suggests that "dealing drugs for the Albanians is one thing, playing a concert for them is an entirely different matter," but it's not just the Macedonians' western neighbors who are in for frequent verbal abuse. The film's derisive but frequently funny ribbing is soundly based on the principle of equal-opportunity irreverence: From a handful of effective scenes early on, involving Mirsa and his ex-g.f, Nina (Kamka Tocinovski), it's already clear that a foul mouth can scarcely hide a heart of gold. Though barely shocking by local standards, the frequent swearing, nudity and generally uncomfortable situations make this far from a prim mainstream entertainment.
Mirsa and Nina set out with Ljak (Toni Mihajlovski), Mirsa's bald, slaughterhouse-worker brother, who was also part of the band, on a trip to visit the other two members, who now live in Serbia and Kosovo. "By phone, they'd dismiss our request to join us in two seconds," is the feeble excuse offered here, though it's clear these men just want to get out of Skopje and enjoy some time off from their own miserable lives.
Huge quantities of alcohol are consumed and a stolen pig carcass is sold even before the trio hits the road. The rest of the film unspools like a typical road movie, with each different locale offering new stories, characters and mishaps. The traveling group slowly grows bigger, the weirdest addition being a pet frog, affectionately called Ferdinand, that they pick up at a lakeside yoga retreat.
By necessity, "Punk Is Not Dead" has a somewhat meandering narrative, but even so, the pic feels a little aimless. It's clear that local auds will get more of the subtext related to the men's crude reflections on how life has changed in the past 17 years in the Balkans. But these ruminations never take centerstage, leaving only the protags as the cement between different scenes, and though convincingly inhabited by the actors, they never quite become fully drawn characters. Screenplay weaknesses are something of a surprise, since helmer Blazevski has been more active as a screenwriter ("The Great Water," "Gypsy Magic") than as a director in recent years.
Tech contributions match the grouchy personalities of the protags.
Camera (color, HD), Dimo Popov; editor, Blagoja Nedelkovski; music, Aleksandar Pejovski; production designer, Kiril Spaseki; costume designer, Ilina Angelovska; sound (Dolby), Atanas Georgiev. Reviewed at Berlin Film Festival (market), Feb. 15, 2011. Running time: 104 MIN.
Variety Reviews - Punk Is Not Dead - Film Reviews - Berlin - Review by Boyd van Hoeij
Ex-Yugoslavian Territories Pick Oscar Hopefuls
7:12 AM PDT 9/29/2011 by Scott Roxborough
Serbia’s “Montevideo, God Bless You” and “Punk’s Not Dead” from Macedonia among the region’s foreign language contenders.
BERLIN – The countries of the former Yugoslavia have submitted their candidates for next year’s foreign-language Oscar race and the themes and subject matter of the contending films are as diverse and divided as the Balkans itself.
The Oscar hopefuls range from Macedonia’s Punk’s Not Dead, Vladimir Blazevski’s low-budget road movie that won Best Film of the East of the West competition in Karlovy Vary to Serbian box office hit Montevideo, God Bless You, a period piece from actor turned director Dragan Bjelogrlic, which follows the Yugoslav national soccer team’s Cinderella run at the 1930s world cup, when they reached the semi-finals.
Croatia is pinning its Oscar hopes on Danilo Serbedzija’ 72 Days, a rural comedy starring the director’s father, actor Rade Serbedzija (X-Men: First Class, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1), which was a big winner at the Croatian national Pula Film Festival last year, with Serbedzija winning Best Actor, Bogdan Diklic taking Best Supporting Actor and the film winning the audience award. On the other end of the cultural spectrum is Slovenia’s Foreign Language contender, Janez Burger’s Silent Sonata, a visually stunning war allegory with no spoken dialogue. The film swept the Slovenian Film Festival last year, taking eight prizes including Best Film and Best Director.
Ahmed Imamovic’s Belvedere, which will represent Bosnia and Herzegovina, also looks back to the Yugoslav war. The black-and-white feature follows a family living in a refugee camp in the wake of the Srebrenica massacre.
Bosnia is the only former Yugoslav country to win an Oscar, for Danis Tanovic’s No Man’s Land in 2001.
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/yugoslavian-territories-pick-oscar-hopefuls-242069
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