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Biography - Sergej Stanojkovski Kontakt (2005) Director: Sergej Stanojkovski Presentation: Eurochannel presents an intimate and touching love story, Macedonia’s Academy Awards entry for best foreign language film. Two Macedonian loners discover their ability to love in Kontakt. This is Sergei Stanojkoski’s debut feature film, one that he describes as “a poem about two people - about humans, around the world.." These two humans have emotions that are universal, similar to those of people around the world. There is something Shakespearean in it, in the drama. These two loners, misfits, somehow characterize a society; their relationship characterizes a real society and the traces that a society leaves on individuals.” Based on a screenplay by Gordan Mihic, Kontakt tells the story of Janko (Nikola Kojo, the Serbian actor from Welcome to Sarajevo), an aggressive ex-convict and Zena (Labina Mitewska, the Macedonian actress from Life is a Miracle), a girl from a psychiatry ward. Meeting each other, they experience, beyond their differences and social isolation, what it is like to care for each other and to devote time to another person. These two characters soon realize that in love, there is hope. Synopsis: Somewhere in Macedonia, two people who are unwanted by society, cross paths. One is an aggressive ex-convict named Janko and the other is Zana, a girl from a psychiatry ward. Janko is such a problem that even the director of the prison wants to release him. Because of his violent temper, Janko's half brother, Novak, also considers him to be a pain and in order to get rid of him, makes him look after Zana. She is being released from a psychiatry institution only because the institution is making room for a more lucrative business plan: serving as a hideout for war criminals. During the renovation of Zana´s house - an occupational therapy for Zana - they become close. The young woman takes a bit of negative energy off the 40-year-old and they find out that they are not at all that different from each other. In fact, they feel they know one other from a past life. Trivia:
• Kontakt was presented in over 40 film festivals worldwide including Thessaloniki International Film Festival; São Paulo International Film Festival, Cairo International Film Festival; Rome Film Festival; Brooklyn International Film Festival; Houston World Film Festival, Palm Springs International Film Festival and Cleveland International Film Festival
• Kontakt won Best Cinematography at the Brooklyn International Film Festival. • Director Sergej Stanojkovski is an alumnus of FAMNU which is a world-renowned Prague-based Film school. He received the "Pavel Juracek Filmpreis" of the FAMU academy for his excellence in expression. • The screenplay was written by Gordan Mihic who was screenwriter of Emir Kusturica's "Black Cat, White Cat" and "Time of the Gypsies". |
