DESERTER

Dezerter

Two friends, Pavle Trusic and Aleksa Veljacic, officers in the Yugoslav army and once in love with the same woman, Nadezda Trusic, meet again during the civil war. Pavle is now a refugee from Vukovar, and Aleksa is a military judge. They meet under dramatic circumstances, which culminate in the death of Pavle's daughter. It is uncertain whether the father of the unfortunate girl is Pavle or Aleksa. The drama develops into a new love-intrigue over the daughter of a deserter, with tragic results. The film focuses on the absurdity of war, the love story being a metaphor for treachery in wartime. Deserter was filmed on location in Belgrade and Vukovar.
Screening Schedule

No physical screenings scheduled.
Direction: Zivojin Pavlovic
Script: Snezana Lukic, Zivojin Pavlovic
Cinematography: Aleksandar Petkovic
Editing: Olga Skrigin, Lana Vukobratovic
Actors: Rade Serbedzija, Rados Bajic, Renata Ulmanski, Mirko Babic, Milena Pavlovic
Production: Centar Film, RTV Belgrade, TRZ Podijum
Sets: Dragoljub Ivkov
Format: 35mm
Color: Colour
Production Country: Yugoslavia
Production Year: 1992
Duration: 98'
Contact: Centar Film. Beogradska 71, Belgrade, Yugoslavia, tel: 38 111 1281, fax: 38 111 323 2139

Zivojin Pavlovic

Yugoslav writer and film director Zivojin Pavlovic was born in Sabac, Serbia, in 1933. He studied painting at the Belgrade Academy of Applied Arts. In the early sixties, he began his filmmaking career by directing two mid-length features. In 1965, he adapted Dostoyesky's short novel «The Double», into a feature entitled The Enemy, and in 1966, he made The Return. His next two films, The Rat's Awakening (1967) and When I'm Dead and White (1968) drew attention both within Yugoslavia and abroad. In 1969, The Ambush was deemed ideologically controversial, and though it was not banned, it never received an export visa. In 1970, he made Red Grain Stalks and began teaching filmmaking at Belgrade's Film School. Meanwhile, Pavlovic had also become an established novelist. However, his fame did not prevent him from being banned from teaching, his films accused of having «a pernicious effect on youth», his teaching methods of being «negative and pessimistic». After three years of silence, he was back in filmmaking again. His characters are often simple people, confronted by the cruelty of the world around them, a world where dreamers and idealists are soon done away with by those who can adapt and keep going in a merciless struggle for life.

Filmography

(English titles)
1962 Live Water (mid-length feature)
1963 The Circle (mid-length feature)
1965 The Enemy
1966 The Return
1967 The Rat's Awakening When I'm Dead and White
1969 The Ambush
1971 Red Grain Stalks
1973 The Flight of the Dead Bird
1977 The Chase
1980 Goodbye, Until the next war
1983 The smell of the body
1987 The road to Katanga
1992 Deserter