Time of Miracles

World War II has just ended. The communists have come to power. With fascism defeated, their next task is clear: the eradication of God, a process historically familiar from many revolutions. In a small Yugoslav town, when the local school burns down and classes are moved into the town church, the local Party leader insists – despite protests – that the church’s icons and murals be painted over. But soon the icons begin to reappear through the whitewash, and the schoolteacher Lazarus, who died of injuries sustained in the fire, rises from the dead. Or could it be he didn’t die at all? Goran Paskaljevic plays with the clash of faiths – religious and secular –, and the fervor they engender.
Screening Schedule

No physical screenings scheduled.
Script: Goran Paskaljevic, Borislav Pekic, based on his novel
Cinematography: Radoslav Vladic
Editing: Olga Skrigin, Olga Jovanovic
Sound: Sinisa Jovanovic-Singer
Music: Zoran Simjanovic
Actors: Pedrag “Miki” Manojlovic (Nicodimos), Dragan Maksimovic (Lazarus), Svetovar Cvetkovic (young Messiah), Mirjana Karanovic (Martha), Danilo-Bata Stojkovic (Ian), Mirjana Jokovic (Maria)
Production: Singidunum Film (Yugoslavia), Channel Four, Metropolitan Pictures (UK)
Producers: Goran Paskaljevic, Biljana Prvanovic
Production Design: Miodrag Nikolic
Format: 35mm Color
Production Country: Yugoslavia
Production Year: 1990
Duration: 98
Contact: Goran Paskaljevic paskaljevic@gmail.com

Goran Paskaljevic

Goran Paskaljevic was born in Belgrade in 1947. Between 1967 and 1971 he studied at the well-known Prague school of cinema (FAMU). His first short, film Mister Hrstka (1969), considered “offensive to the socialist system and harmful to the social order”, was banned by the Czechoslovakian regime. The film, however, was viewed by Milos Forman, Jiri Menzel and Vera Chytilova, and Goran Paskaljevic found himself accepted overnight into the ranks of the New Wave directors. From 1971 to the present, he has made 30 documentaries and 15 feature films, many of which have been awarded and acclaimed at the most prestigious international film festivals. The rise of nationalism in Yugoslavia forced him to leave his country in 1992 and in 1994 he settled in Paris. In 1998 he returned to make The Powder Keg, but his constant criticism of Milosevic’s regime met with violent, menacing attacks in the official press. He decided once more to leave his native land in search of a country where he could make his film, How Harry Became a Tree. He returned to Belgrade upon the collapse of the Milosevic regime to make his Midwinter Night’s Dream(2004) and The Optimists (2006). In 2001, International Film Guide (Variety’s) named him one of the top five directors of the year. In January 2008, New York’sMuseum of Modern Art presented a full retrospective of his work. In February 2008 he was awarded the Order of Arts and Literature by the French government.

Filmography

1969 Pan Hrstka/Mister Hrstka (short doc.)
1970 Nekolik slov o lasce/ A Few Words about Love (short doc.)
1972 Legenda o Lapotu/The Legend of Lapot (short)
1971-74 Dosljaci/The Immigrants (series of 30 short docs)
1973 Deca/Children (short doc.)
1973 Sluga/Servant (short)
1974 Teret/Burden (short doc.)
1974 Kapetan Janko/Captain Janko (short)
1974 Potomak/The Descendant (short)
1975 Iz pobede u pobedu/From Victory to Victory (short doc.)
1976 Cuvar plaze u zimskom periodu/Beach Guard in Wintertime
1978 Pas koji je voleo vozove/The Dog Who Loved Trains
1979 Zemaljski dani teku sipad/These Earthly Days Go Rolling By (short)
1980 Poseban tretman/Special Treatment
1982 Suton/Twilight Time
1984 Varljivo leto ’68/Illusive Summer ’68
1987 Andjeo cuvar/Guardian Angel
1990 Vreme cuda/Time of Miracles
1992 Tango argentino
1995 Tudja America/Someone Else’s America
1998 Bure baruta/The Powder Keg (aka Cabaret Balkan)
2001 How Harry Became a Tree
2004 San zimske noci/Midwinter Night’s Dream
2006 Optimisti/The Optimists
2009 Honeymoons