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Serbian Film Centre finances
gay cinema with over 30,000 euros.

It says: "A disgrace".

"The Serbian Film Centre finances
gay cinema from the state budget."

Jevtić: "LGBT people pay taxes too."

I may be conservative,

but I can't believe the government
would fund a gay movie.

They want some "extra" rights?

He should sit in prison until he dies,
with 40 of them in the cell.

I found it interesting
that actors are being sought,

as this is a documentary.

It seemed to me like some kind of porn.

So why not apply? -So I thought
I should apply to explore.

Oh, my God!

Are you afraid that the same thing
might happen to you

as it did to Heath Ledger
and Jake Gyllenhaal,

and you get marked
at the begging of your career?

For me, acting is just acting.
-That's my job.

I wouldn't have any problems with it.
-There's little work and shooting here.

You can play a character
who is not like you,

but you can find something of yourself
in this character.

How long will we work? You can see
for yourself what times we live in.

You never know
what tomorrow will bring.

Do you know each other from before?
-From the casting.

What casting?
-We met here,

but we know each other from before,
from the Academy.

99% of people said to me: "You're not
going to play a gay character, are you?

We often wonder what people will say.

So, you've probably seen the violent
tabloid reactions to our movie.

As if we were filming something
that had never been filmed before.

Serbian and Yugoslav cinematography
used to be full of queer elements

which we are now trying to portray

We chose you as actors to find out

where all the queer themes found
their place in domestic films

and why they were
or were not taboo.

This will also be the preparation
for the shooting of your feature film.

Just give me your phone number
so I can call you.

Do you have a number?
-Write down.

WARM FILM

Queer moments permeate the Yugoslav
cinema from the very beginning.

From the late 1940s to the 1950s,
we find a whole series of characters

who subvert gender norms,
either as feminized men,

as men in women's clothing

or as masculine and tomboyish,
butch women,

Some are clearly coded
as homosexuals,

while others may not be overtly gay
at first glance,

but if we look closer we will realise

that these characters
are not clearly heterosexual

meaning that their sexual
and gender identity

nevertheless subverts the heteronorm.

The late '40s and '50s
are often seen as a dark period

in which there was nothing remarkable
before the golden 60s,

but this is in fact completely wrong,
a total mystification.

This was period
of the most intensive development

of Yugoslav cinematography.

Its truly epochal leap forward.

Student, you don't need a pen
and a book here, you need strength.

The first feature-length film "Slavica"
was released in 1947,

and just one year later
we have two films with queer motifs.

If I had his strength,
I would laugh too.

One of them is "Life is ours",
people from the railway,

directed by Gustav Gavrin.

When the film's cameraman
saw the edited footage,

he told the director that the young men
in film looked and acted like faggots.

This is a direct quote
that we owe to Vladimir Pogačić.

Hey, mate, slow down.
Take a break.

The alleged faggots were not
the result of the director's intention,

but rather a consequence
of their incompetence.

He is handsome, but mute.

They simply didn't know
how to tell the story effectively,

which led to
a kind of misunderstanding.

When we part ways,
you will forget me.

The film suppresses
the characters of the girls,

i.e. the love relationships
between young men and girls,

but everything that was suppressed
on the heterosexual front,

so to speak, has erupted
on the homosexual front.

Even the simplest
exchange of glances between boys

seemed very emotional and dramatic,
contributing to the impression

that the boys in the film
were behaving like faggots.

New communist government under the
leadership of Marshal Josip Broz Tito

quickly set up the Federal Committee
for Cinematography,

which established regional committees
in all six republics.

I don't know what criteria we will use
to select the films.

Well, we'll start with
the well-performed ones.

Do you think there were any?
-Of course there were.

We could look at some older films

because they have a different
approach to acting than today's.

Got it? -Yeah.
-All right, then play.

In 1948,
Yugoslav cinema also presented

the first depictions of lesbian desire
and lesbian sexuality.

This is the film "Sofka"
by director Radoš Novaković,

an oriental melodrama based on
the motifs of Bora Stanković's prose.

Before her wedding, the protagonist
takes a ritual bath in the hamam

and meets with women
from the village.

The female body could not be exhibited
directly in front of the camera.

We see it as a silhouette
on the wall of the hamam.

I know that my husband,
whoever he may be,

will be someone else,
and not you.

A unique medium through which we
experience female beauty and sensuality

is precisely the female,
probably lesbian gaze.

In 1950, a Yugoslavian film introduced
a different kind of queer motif,

a man dressed as a woman,
the so-called drag.

We owe this to film "The red flower,"
a war drama directed by Gustav Gavrin.

The same Gavrin
who also directed "Life is ours."

The film is set
in a Nazi prisoner-of-war camp

where the prisoners plan
to infiltrate the camp administration

and destroy lists of names
of incriminated prisoners.

To distract the Nazis, the Communists
organise a staged revue

with various music
and dance performances.

This includes
the appearance of a barmaid

who performs a melancholy ballad.

This barmaid is the first
drag character in Yugoslav cinema.

In "The red flower", drag is literally
a political, revolutionary act,

a form of anti-fascist resistance.

Well, the man said it well.
-In what sense?

In the sense
that behind every artistic creation

there are personal motives,
as with both of us.

But we have no living witnesses
from that time.

We should start
from a more recent time,

such as a black wave
or somewhere

where sexuality is recognised
for the first time in the film.

The first moment
in which appears something

that can be conditionally associated
with this concept

is the film "Shared Apartment"
by Marijan Vajda.

It is a movie from 1961.

There is one scene

that is very significant for the time.

So, various families come to a flat
that is not yet ready.

They try to occupy a room

and the one who can do it best
secures accommodation.

But Čkalja and Mića Tatić

do not manage to get a room,

and it looks like some kind
of sexual encounter.

What is it? Where's the fire?
-Sleep! Sleep!

František Čap is an integral part
of the history of Yugoslav cinema,

even as the first filmmaker
known to be gay.

Of particular interest is his 1959.
film "The Door Remains Open,"

which shows a juvenile delinquent
who escapes from a Belgrade prison

and reaches in Konjic via Sarajevo,
where he assumes a false identity

and hides with a family who regard him
as a child lost in the war.

The film eroticises its protagonist,
played by Rade Vergović,

in a way that was unprecedented
in Yugoslav cinema.

We are dealing with a narrative

that does not fulfil the audience's
expectations of a heterosexual romance.

Not only does protagonist
not get involved in a love affair

with the female lead played
by Milena Dravić in her first role,

but he also rejects the advances
of all the girls who chase him.

Although critics found the film
unconvincing and bad,

it nevertheless establishes
an unrecognised link

between the queer population
and delinquency.

What should I do?
There is no water in the building.

I need it for those pictures.

Hello.
-Buongiorno, signori.

I am Đorđe. Nice to meet you.
-And I'm also Đorđe.

Milan Jelly in English,
otherwise Milan Jelić.

Where is your girl, lover?

Over there with the neighbour.
He wants to take her to the sea.

He is a fool if he believes her.
She is a whore.

Speak of her with more respect.
-You tell me that.

You made a film here, didn't you?
-In 1967, if I remember correctly.

I remember that we shot
"The rats woke up."

What was your role at Žika's film?

I played a boy
who was in love with Dušica Zegarac,

and Mića Tomić was in love with him.
So, they fought over me.

Good afternoon. I left my pajamas
at your place the other day.

You were asleep and I covered you up.
Where is it now?

It's not with me anymore,
it's with her.

Dušica Zegarac left with Perović,
and I don't know what happened to me.

Mića probably... -Got hold of you.
-Got hold of me.

How did people react to Mića's role
at that time?

Incredibly, that time
was much more liberal.

People saw it as normal.
In the last 20 years

there has been some commotion,
hatred, hostility,

but back then that was just a film
and people didn't hold it against me.

They criticised me for some workers
and unemployment,

but the gay story
didn't bother anyone.

Today, many critics speak
of the Black Wave

as a radical movement
in Yugoslav cinema.

However, we should bear in mind that
another term was in use in those years,

"The new Yugoslav film."
This term was more comprehensive,

It encompassed a larger number of
authors and new stylistic tendencies.

We have to film gays, come on.
They are... uh.

If we look at their films,

we will see that queer motifs
were very present in all of them.

It was beyond the framework of what
is now known to as the Black Wave.

Especially those films

for which Goran Mihić and Ljubiša
Kozomara were the screenwriters.

In those films,

Milan Jelić was practically
a trademark.

I have seen the film "Crows",
in which you played a role.

Was this character really gay or?
-It was something similar to...

Or was he feminised?
-The pioneers of this were

the geniuses Gordan Mihić
and Ljubiša Kozomara,

Our best scriptwriters,
who later also directed.

They did pioneering work
on these topics.

There haven't been roles like that
for a long time. Žika started it

and then it continued
with Mihić and Kozomara in "Crows."

It was in my film "The Bug Killer."

Do you have a girlfriend,
or are you going alone?

Alone?! That's not good.

Your uncle often went
to the movies alone,

and in the end
it turned out he was gay.

I have a girlfriend.

Your uncle embarrassed us all.

Now he lives alone in a comfortable
apartment and hides his dirty nature,

but everyone knows who he is
and they will know as long as I live.

Do you drink?

You must.
Waiter, bring him a beer.

Learn to drink, you're not a sissy,
and you can't be gay.

Women really hate that.

Pick a good, healthy girl.

Don't watch men while they're showering
and avoid their company.

Kozomara wrote the script

for the show "Lefties"
which from today's perspective

looks like explicit queer content.

Hat and dress
of my non-existent aunt.

Ljupče, it's not nice
to touch my things.

I keep tools there.
-We've found dresses,

now we have to find out
who the aunt was.

She really came, took me on her lap
and offered me cheap sweets

Please, child, you are starting
to annoy me with such thoughts.

Uncle, you were the aunt.

In this episode with the title
"My uncle is my aunt,"

Slavko Simić has a nephew
played by Ljuba Moljac.

He was one of the heroes
of the Black Wave

because he often,
alongside Milan Jelić,

appeared in these films
as an episode actor.

In the continuation of this episode,

Slavko Simić actually comes
dressed as a woman

and introduces himself to his nephew.

Is that my little nephew?

I've come to visit the little rascal

and brought him a nice present.

From the point of view
of socialist television,

at the time of 1971, this was
a completely subversive thing.

Uncle, what have you done?
Take it off.

Aunt Zlatanović never forgot her
young nephew and brought him this.

Get away from me, you freak.

Ljuba and I played
in several films together,

but the most interesting was the film
"When I Am Dead and Gone."

He and I danced the waltz.
I'll show you what it looked like.

Come on, you're actors. -The scene?
-Yes. Now I'll direct a little.

Is that so? -That's right. It's not
just my friend who's directing.

There is a workers' party,

Everyone had to dance the waltz,
and since there were very few girls,

Ljuba Moljac and I danced together.

Dance like this.
Hold each other by the shoulders.

No, wait. How it was?
Like this, hold your waist.

To one another.

Okay, let's switch.
-Let's go.

One, two, three.
One, two, three.

Now faster.
-Come on, faster. Sing!

Oh, you're good.

Speed it up until you get dizzy.
-I have thought you well. Well done.

We look nothing like them.
It's like two different dances.

Cause you don't know how to dance.

I don't know? -You.

Come over here. Give me your hands.
Put them here,

and slowly.

I rarely see you with girls,

And I see you every day.

I rarely see you with girls,

And yet you are never alone.

Boys are around you.

They're nice, but still, you know

Rumours spread fast,

And when they burst, it's over.

After Tito's death, the distribution
of gay films really took off.

It was a sign

that socialist society had entered
the phase of decadence,

the last round.

It was literally the end of a system.

The system could no longer maintain
political control

and therefore
could no longer fully control

neither the production
of cultural content.

So some things were created
on this ground

that were previously impossible.

Why are you looking at me like that?
-Why have you tied the gay scarf?

Do you really think I'm gay?
-Yes. You're gay.

The disco baroque of the 80s
was the playground

where all trends
could happily come together.

We had a foreign music scene
that was full of gays and queers,

and that was still unconscious.

Pero, my son, don't worry.

Your mother will get your ear back.

I'll go straight to the evil singer's
house and ask where the ear is.

Dressed in his mother's clothes,
with lipstick and a wig on his head,

Pera sets off in search of his ear.

Interestingly, there was a band
that openly labelled themselves gay.

That was Bronski Beat. They called
their first album "The Age of Consent."

They wanted to address the issue

that the age of consent in the UK
at the time was 21.

They have compiled a list of countries
where this was allowed much earlier.

Yugoslavia was on that list.

You could legally enter into homosexual
relationships at the age of 15 or 16.

When our film mainstream opened up
to queer phenomena in the 1980s,

there were several new comedies
that emerged.

There are a number of films here,
such as "Spy on heels" by Milan Jelić,

who even then managed to smuggle
queer characters

and queer themes into domestic films.

Good afternoon. Human Resources
Department for "Disco-Hit."

I am Narcisa Zec.

Welcome to our team, Narcisa.
-You know you're cute, don't you?

You have a cute moustache
and a cute belly. You are cute.

The mainstream was a general joke

that lasted until late '80s
and the dissolution of Yugoslavia,

through a series of these
newly composed comedies.

I wanted to put this
ordinary policeman, a rural policeman

whose biggest job was to investigate
who stole whose chicken...

In an unusual situation.

He imagines himself as a great
specialist and so on.

Of course, we also make a joke.

I make a scenario where he, as a man
who constantly chasing after women,

ends up in the company
of homosexuals.

I don't know if you remember,
but there is an interesting detail.

They send him off
to infiltrate the group.

Someone asks,
"Did you tell him everything?"

I didn't mention one little thing,
That they are queers over there.

That's where the story begins

and he has to pretend
to be homosexual.

He doesn't know exactly
what it looks like or what it is.

In a completely comical way,
he tries not to be discovered.

What would you like?
-Scotch whiskey.

The working title was "Vaseliners"
because from the beginning

their code when they meet was,
"Have you got vaseline?" "We have."

That was the code, and it was also
referred to homosexuals.

Have you got Vaseline?
-I had it, but I used it up.

Does this have any meaning for you?
-You have no idea.

Will you give me one tube?

Sure, but only on one condition.
-That goes without saying.

What goes without saying?
-Well, you can come to my apartment.

First, we'll have a drink.

When I say to you, "Have you got
Vaseline?", what do you say to me?

I haven't got it. -Just fuck off.
-Why are you shouting at me?

Fuck off.
-You are such a rough guy.

Waiter, I want to pay!

The ideal of masculinity
was different in the 1980s,

In the sense that there was
an acceptance

of certain gay
and queer characteristics

as something normal and heterosexual.

One grappa!

Wow, what a lad!

Kiss him.

There was this appartheid
that emerged later in the 90s.

There are fund-based films that deal
exclusively with gay and queer issues

in a rather banal way.

On the other hand,
there are these other,

so-called toxic masculine films.

So, the appartheid was absolutely
disastrous for culture in the '90s,

and in the 80s there was a complete
liberation through the Baroque.

There was a freedom
of all sorts of tendencies,

which naturally found expression
in a much more extravagant style,

whether in music or film.

Now everything is clear.
Now I understand everything.

A whore in my master's gown.

Now I don't understand anything.

My dear, the joke was well invented

because it has permanently cured me
of my jealousy.

Through the New Wave and punk,

especially through the late-night
program "Belgrade at Night"

with Oliver Mandić
and Stanko Crnobrnja,

there was a serious opening
of national TV to queer tendencies.

However, this new wave was limited

to a certain type of urban population,

the hipster culture of the time,
which consumed and understood it.

For breakthrough of queer tendencies

on the so-called petit-bourgeois world,

which we call the average Serbian
population,

the most significant figure
was Boris Bizetić

and his fantastic project
"Rockers from Morava."

Another interesting thing
is that this is the time

when camp becomes
very important as a concept

in consuming contemporary,
pop-cultural content.

Pele, give me back my wig.

Pele, give me back my wig.

Therefore, the films that were part
of the newly emerging Serbian cinema

were connected to the camp culture.

Pele, give me back my wig.
Don't be rude.

I understand the humour in this scene,

but someone could interpret it
as mockery.

It might have been just
pure entertainment.

But now someone might feel offended,
while others might find it funny.

Back then, it was normal
not to talk about it much

and if you did,
it was either considered shameful

or you treated them like a sick person.

This is in contrast to the story that
everything was more liberal back then.

I'm talking about the political sense.
-That's what I meant.

I'm talking about the moral sense.
You see, do you understand

that I went to school after the war
and I had no idea about it?

I heard about it in university.

I don't think people
have ever heard of it.

Call me Miki.
What should I call you?

Call me Boki.
-How? I didn't understand.

Peter.

Ah, that's your fake name.
I'll call you Pele.

My fake name is
Juan Fernandez de los Pedros.

I see, Pedros de la Naguzis.

They wanted to make money
and an amusing film.

How do you know that?
-Well, that's my guess. -Guess?

Everything is like a joke.
-Just say I'm assuming, not...

As if it were your conclusion.
-What are you doing?

Go away. Did you dirty me?
-You have something white on your face.

Do you want to put it under your head?
-No, I don't.

Stanislav, what are you doing?
What are you doing?

Tanja, wait, let me explain.

Stanislav?! He was the first
gay character in Serbian cinema,

and today he owns a club
for bodybuilders.

Look. -Right, the first gay man,
and we found ten before him.

Bro, people aren't used
to gays being bulging alpha males.

What's wrong with you?
-He's gay.

Gay? Impossible.
-I've seen him with my own eyes.

He has a fiancée and he's gay.
Great! -How do you know that?

Have you seen her?
-He told me himself.

Asshole. I slapped him.
-Well done.

Slap? Slap?!

I started making amateur films
a few years ago.

My name is Želimir Žilnik.

I started making films in the late 60s
and I'm still making them today.

If you were to ask me which decade
was the most productive,

then, in my experience the 80s
were the most productive years.

Girls, stretch the canvas.

Come on, pull.

"Pretty women
walking through the city"

was prepared and shot in 1985

and released in 1986.

Where is Marx?

Here he is. -So where is Engels?
You've got it mixed up.

I would say it's a low-budget,
futuristic film,

but it's just interesting
that there was an atmosphere

where you could pose
those important questions.

The film begins in Belgrade,

which is completely deserted
after the wars of the 1990s.

There are only old people left.

When we were thinking about
how to organise the story and the cast,

we came to the conclusion

that we should set the film in 2041,

and that Yugoslavia or the Balkan
region is ruled by some dictators

who consider that the biggest crime
is ethnic mixing

and co-operation
between Balkan peoples.

It was obviously in the air that
this was an option that might arise.

This is nonsense.
The pussy has no national emblem.

We don't need the term man in Serbian,
Croatian, Slovenian, Hungarian.

We need that piece of healthy,
tough meat.

It doesn't need to be named.
-Cock. -Stick.

Dick. -Tool.
-Pipe. -Python.

Then we included
a group of gay young men.

And why? As a provocation.
These guys are there,

but there is no dialogue,
no hope and no energy

to create a new generation.

That was the moment

when I met Vjeran Miladinović

who played a brilliant episodic role.

I am not satisfied
with my behaviour towards him

because I offered him more
than I should have done.

He knows of your affection for him?
-He knows that I have concealed it.

If I had been direct with him,
he might have got me and I him.

But he's afraid, because he's used to
feeling like a king in my eyes.

So... -Do you have the feeling
that you will win him over?

I think I'll have him in a few years,

and considering
what he's put me through,

I won't forget it.
I will get my revenge on him.

In the 1980s,
before the dissolution of Yugoslavia,

the market began
to open up completely,

first through newly composed comedies,
and then,

if the entire market had not collapsed
and not just Yugoslavia,

there would have been an opening
for more serious,

serious-toned films on the same theme,

if we had continuity
in the continuation of cinematography.

And since we had no continuity
in the life of the country,

it didn't go any further.

A symbolically very important film
was "Virgina" by Srđan Karanović.

Faster, little pisser.

My name is...

My name is...

The film was made in the last year
of Yugoslav cinematography

and it showed a traditional transgender
custom from rural, impoverished areas,

in which a female child in a family
without male descendants

was forced to take on
the role of a boy.

I know you're a girl.

I haven't told anyone,
and I won't until you say so.

I'll be with you
if you promise to be good.

I will.

The film was long regarded
as the last Yugoslavian film,

but it is particularly relevant today

in the era of discussions
about transgender identities.

Žilnik appeared with "Marble Ass"
right at this moment of separation.

It's a serious film about queer issues.

So it's no longer
this kind of new wave parody

which, if continued,

could actually lead to more serious
and sophisticated style

in which such themes
could be portrayed.

Hello, Susan. -Would you happen
to have a condom for me?

Darling, I really can't give you
any more.

I haven't done a single job,
you know that's bad luck.

I give you a condom every night.
Don't annoy me, I've just arrived.

Buy your own condoms
when you get to work.

She's so annoying.

One evening, when I was
on my way back to the railway station

an elderly woman approached me
outside the station and said,

"Žilnik, would you like to have
some fun?"

"We used to be very close. You even
kissed me two or three times."

I said, "I remember your voice,
but I don't know who you're."

She replied, "How can we not know
each other? Last time you told me"

"That you cared about me and that we
needed to do something together."

I said, "Listen, you made a mistake.
I don't know you."

He took off his wig
and it was Vjeran.

Look, it's all in 1994,
the beginning of summer. May, June.

He told me to come to him,
near the railway station,

in Gavrilo Princip Street.

He invited me to come round
for a brandy, a Coke.

That was the first time I've sat
with him and his three or four friends,

who were also non-operated men.

We just witnessed surreal situations.

Customers coming in,

negotiating with them
as if it were the most normal thing,

arranging to have love affairs
in some backyard

or in a car on the street.

Good evening. -Good evening
-May I ask something?

Feel free, dear. -What's the price?
-The price is 30 dinars with a condom.

What would you like, sex or a blowjob?
-Sex.

Do you have money to pay me?
-I only have 10 dinars.

Sweetie, for 10 dinars,
you can go with those streetwalkers.

I am a lady. I worth 30 dinars.
Shall we do this?

We started filming it,

but the people with the guns
started reacting.

At that time, every second person
who approached them was armed.

We filmed the whole thing,

but when
the guy threatened to kill us, we left.

Don't be afraid.

Vjeran says, "I don't want to make
documentary films."

"I don't want to be filmed
with these clients"

"Or these sexual services."

"I only want to film
if you come up with a scenario"

"Where I'm something superior, like
a Marilyn Monroe before retirement,"

"Who has a bunch of young people
around her who she teaches"

"And introduces to the craft
in some way."

"Have we all seen the film
Some Like It Hot?"

"That's a comedy.
Let's make a comedy."

What are you doing, woman?
-I'm making lunch.

You came to Belgrade
to be a whore, not a housewife.

Why are you kneading?
Where's your money?

Then it took me a month or two

to write the story
the way he imagined it.

Come on, join in.
Aren't you interested?

Why do I need it? - We have a lot of
UNPROFOR soldiers, diplomats.

You need a foreign language,
are you crazy?

I've slept with foreigners. He comes
to me, not the other way round.

How? Well, he comes up to me,
looks at me coquettishly.

Asks for the price.
He opens his arms a little and I say...

What do you tell him?
-Fike fike, fellatio, Rome, house.

No problem.
-Fike fike, fellatio, Rome, house.

Is that good?
-Well, it's not bad.

I've told people that the film
will be called "Kilometres of dick."

Because Vjeran once told me
something,

when I asked him
why they were doing this.

He said, "You know what?
It's also kind of, let's say,"

"Humanitarian work and helping"

"And calming down
the insane energy of these kids"

"Who don't know what they're doing."

"I've sucked a kilometre or two of dick
doing this humanitarian work."

It's much warmer up here.

Am I disturbing you?
-No. Everything is fine.

I don't like crowds.
That's why I asked.

It's good that there's no crowd.

I don't mind.

You like crowds, huh?

Well, I do.

You don't have to move.

What a poof.

What music should be playing
in the background? -Tina Turner.

Something from the '80s?
-No, Tina Turner.

Seriously, it's a film.

I would simply make a film out of it,
from beginning to end.

Without any explanation.

I don't want to impose, but...

Do you think you can go to the game?
-Why shouldn't I?

It's pretty rough there.

That's why I'm coming here later
with my mates.

I've been playing handball
for I don't know how many years.

If something is rough,
it's this sport.

The only problem for me
is the dialogue.

I would even shorten it,
without dialogue.

I think that just movements
and glances would be enough.

Look, when I barely touched you,
you reacted like this,

but look what I've done to you now,
you didn't react to that.

This is really great.
Take a look at this.

"Made in Serbia" was a surprise
for many viewers

who do not watch this kind of thing,

especially because it was described
as a pornographic film

which is not true.

People who appear in gay porn,
gay adult films,

and those who appear in straight porn
are actually the same performers

or mostly the same performers.

As far as pornography is concerned,

I would prefer not to be involved
in this business any more

but a man still has to earn his living
somehow.

A topic related to pornography and
the production of a pornographic film

was in my film "Made in Serbia,"
my first feature film.

This topic was interesting to me

because it involved exploring themes
from an unknown world.

It's the conflict
between Eros and Thanatos.

The focus wasn't on what
the porn industry means in Serbia.

It's about the aesthetics of darkness,
the aesthetics of ugliness.

Would you like a coffee?
-Eržebet is a very sincere person.

She doesn't pretend, unlike many girls
who are always philosophising.

She talks openly.

For money she gets here, she should
work somewhere for a month and a half.

We work in the fields
all day in that sun

and we get 700 dinars a day.

From 6 in the morning
until 3 in the afternoon.

I was interested in giving a portrait
of Serbia through the porn industry,

both through "Made in Serbia"
and "Life and death of a porno gang."

Ognjen, it's you. I almost fucked you.
-I knew you were a faggot.

Me, gay?
What about your new look?

Friend, we're in deep shit.
I need to tell you something.

Look at these two.
Why don't you join them?

Stop talking shit and listen to me.
I think aliens are visiting our planet.

It's a kind of female species,
so I dressed under its influence.

Which women? There are
more and more faggots around us.

They don't even hide anymore.
They take high positions everywhere.

Vladan, it seems like almost
all of your characters are queer.

Is that some kind of standard for you?

I get the impression that you have
normal attitude towards it.

It somehow arose
from my cinephile experience

in connection with the films
of Morrissey, Warhol,

films they made together.

John Waters. -Pasolini?
-And Pasolini.

I don't know how much
this has to do with reality.

It has more to do
with my cinephile experience

which I took from films I loved

and I still love.

This won't going to work.
-Why?

I'm ill.

I don't intend to live forever either.

So you treat them in a normal way.

I didn't distance myself from it
and I wasn't being ironic,

but it's all part of a certain
camp feeling,

more a kind of filmophilia.

So it wasn't just queer moments
that I took from these films.

This won't going to work.
-Why?

I'm ill.

I don't intend to live forever either.

Wait, wait.

You've choked me. -Didn't I tell you
not to play like that at all?

You know everything, I know nothing,
right? We're back to square one.

Surely you know something too.
Just kidding, you know nothing.

I think few authors have returned
to these queer themes.

Mladen and Žilnik
have been working on them constantly.

Đorđević Mladen and Želimir Žilnik?
-That's right.

In the house that is being built, I met
Kennedy's father, Kennedy's mother

and Kennedy's two brothers.

Father was nervous because
I wanted to hold Kennedy back.

The father said: "He must go to work.
He's received two or three calls."

I didn't understand what's going on.
I even thought maybe he had a gang

he was hanging out with.

I asked him what he meant and he said:
"He offers these services."

"He provides sexual services."

"He offers sexual services
to both men and women."

I was shocked.

Give me the cigarette. Can you see
how it's done here in Yugoslavia?

You see, he knows how to do it right.

In our conversation,
we've mentioned

that there has been news

about changes in German laws,

that same-sex marriage is now also
permitted in Germany.

And after finding

a few interested friends
and acquaintances

who have already worked
at gay festivals,

we start filming
the beginning of the film

and preparing the arrival
of the groom.

Dominance over the phallus

is indeed the main ailment

of the Serbian cultural matrix.

Dominance over women
is therefore not enough

to appease the pagan impulse
that exists.

For example, I tried to introduce
this content into Serbian cinema

by writing "A Serbian film."

We didn't just want to break
some taboos.

It was also an experiment in
the adaptation of Serbian profanities,

the most brutal Serbian profanities,

and incorporating them
into a genre context.

Throughout the social narrative,

the LGBT population is perceived
as treacherous or hostile.

Since the 90s and the wars,
gay men who don't join the military

or avoid military service
are seen as less masculine

to the point that the NGO sector
is anti-Serb.

All this together makes a gay man.

This has also been reflected in films.

A remarkable example for me
is the film "Miloš Branković"

in which we have two evil lesbians who
symbolise the non-governmental sector

and a gay teacher
who is portrayed as a sexual predator.

It shows
what this gay character is like.

What if mum finds out?

You'll get it, I promise.

If we look back in time,

we'll realise that gay characters
have always been a bit problematic.

The 2008 film "Obituary for Escobar"
by Milorad Milinković

created a completely new portrayal.

For the first time, transgender woman
is played by an actress,

Tamara Grajbas,
a popular regional star at the time.

Bojana.
-Yeah.

Don't you remember me? -No.
We went to school together.

Primary or secondary?
-Both, and in the kindergarten.

I called you.
-Borko?

His name is Lela now.

I remember when Ljuca's film
"Sergeant" appeared on a porn site

with a sex scene between
Timotijević and Marić,

when they were still young
and attractive.

It ended up in the Serbian tabloids.
Everyone talked about the sex scene

as if it were
a terribly spectacular event.

So anyone who decides
to make a gay film

and play a gay role in a film

is sure to be ridiculed
by the tabloid press

and portrayed as some kind
of sensation.

I understand young actors
who don't want to go through this.

I see that in Serbian cinema LGBT
characters are in the background,

that they are there
to fulfil a quota,

and not because the theme
is about the LGBT population.

In this sense, "Marble Ass" is indeed
the queerest Serbian film of all time.

It deals with the queer population
and shows queer characters.

We still don't have a film like this.

"The Parade"," which approaches
that level,

is still not a film that really focuses
on the LGBT population,

but rather has them in the background.

This film is totally camp.
-My Miško loves it. -Really?

Miško, "Ben-Hur."
-"Ben-Hur," huh?

Sorry.

There's your "Ben-Hur."

You're not so good this time.
-123? -123.

If that's not better
than Vučić's football...

Okay, you get three grand for that.

In Ben Hur they play darts.
Where does Ben-Hur come from?

"Ben-Hur" is a totally gay film.
-What did you say?

There's that famous scene in Ben-Hur
when they meet,

that we claimed was one of the most
beautiful love scenes.

It is, but Charlton Heston
was a big homophobe.

That is love.

He simply couldn't believe that
it was later interpreted that way,

that his partner was actually gay.

He wasn't pleased when he found out.

This scene was really full of emotion.

You're good. You've put on a bit
of weight. Playing around, huh?

Ben-Hur.

I find it fascinating
that this is the first film

to focus not on the sexuality
of a single character, but on a group.

That is indeed interesting.
It's an interesting observation.

My films are generally
more or less political.

This is proof that homophobia,
violence

and intolerance
are prevalent throughout the region.

We hope that 10 years after
the disgraceful beating of activists...

Are you prepared to take responsibility

for the violence on the streets
next weekend?

What about statement
by the head of the Orthodox Church

opposing the holding
of the pride parade?

The Pride Parade in 2001

was the biggest mistake
we activists made

because we were ahead of our time.

We tried to do something
for which the conditions weren't right.

Carried away by the fact
that there was a regime change,

that Slobodan
Milošević went to The Hague,

we thought that everything
had become perfect here overnight

even though it was still the same
society, the same people,

the same police,
and the same politicians.

In the middle of all this, we wanted
to organise the first gay pride parade

and then happened what happened.

That was a reference to the fact that
it's normal to go out on the street

and beat up gay people
and prevent the parade.

I remember the video

in which a group of men marched
through the centre of Belgrade

shouting, "Kill the faggots!"

That is etched in my memory.

And the policemen watching
from the side were filing their nails

saying: "It's not our concern.
Strike, go ahead."

They reacted only
when they were attacked.

There weren't enough participants
in the gay parade for so many attackers

so they found their next victim
in the police.

Only then did the brawls
and chaos begin.

We had planned to include other
actors who didn't want to take part.

They're prominent actors and artists,
good people.

They just didn't want
anything to do with it.

You can't blame anyone,
because in 2010

it was still pretty tricky.

The social situation was somewhat
tense in this respect.

Especially after the parade, which led
to much violence and many casualties

and left that part of the city
in ruins.

People were not indifferent.

The year 2010 is very similar to 2001,

except that the political support
has changed.

Not because the ruling party wanted it,

but because there was immense
external pressure

for the parade to take place,
and it did.

Even today we still refer
to this parade as the bloody one.

In the middle of this circle
in which we walked,

while others filmed the parade,
everything was normal

but around us there was chaos
like in a war zone.

After the parade,
they threw us into police vehicles

and took us out of the city centre
to prevent us from being attacked.

Again, the question is whether
we got anything out of it.

Violence is once again
being normalise.

A different approach was taken
regarding the parade,

and not much talk
about what the community wants,

what problems the LGBT population
in Serbia is facing.

It's always about some policy
that doesn't affect us at all.

This is no longer a question
of straight or gay.

These are two Serbias.

Except that this Serbia forces you
every day to be something you aren't.

It forces you to play
six different roles,

one for your parents, for friends,
for the street, for work.

It forces you to be something
you aren't.

What we are talking about now
has caught our generation

as a result of the war
and a significant downfall.

For example, in the country
where we were born, in Yugoslavia,

it was considered inappropriate
to talk about it.

Not in the sense that it existed,

but in the sense that its existence
was questioned.

Nation as well.
I don't want to idealise the SFRY.

I remember that we were

part of the small punk movement
in the late 1970s.

As we belonged to a minority,

there were also incidents
where 'Domci'

and cadets from military academies

would come to the park
and want to beat us up.

In the park near the hotel "Moskva"
there were gays

but also punks.

They would take off their belts,
run past the gays

and say: "What's up, faggots.
We want to beat up the punks."

Do you have a shirt, bro? -Huh?
Do you have a shirt? -I do.

During the preparations for the film,
I articulated the awareness

that this is indeed
a sensitive subject.

Many actors refuse to play
gay characters.

I don't know why anyone would
rather play Novica or Ratko Mladić

than play a gay character.

Why is that socially acceptable?
-It was very disturbing for me.

For me, this is a serious point
of abnormality

in all the madness
we have experienced in this society

which put us in a situation where
a young person says something like that

and thinks it's okay to say it.

It wasn't a dirty, dark secret
that someone made up after casting.

They explicitly tell you
that they would play a skinhead,

but not a gay basketball player.

There have been queer,
gay characters throughout history

but not portrayed in this way.

Do you think that could have been
a reason for the rejection?

It was portrayed in history,

but you have to analyse
the subtexts of these films,

the traces of queer elements
in the history of our cinematography.

They didn't explicitly deal with
the topics that are relevant today.

Obviously, there are some reservations.
People aren't prepared to deal with it.

A certain passivity?
-No. I think it's a fear, a barrier.

I wanted to find out
why this is the case.

Show us where the showers are.
What does it look like now?

Has anything changed?
-What does it say here?

Hey, where are you going?

It's all right, bro.
-Get the fuck out, man.

Just relax. -Get the fuck out,
you motherfucking gay.

When people talk about "the scene,"

for me it's actually the scene
of the conversation and the coming out

which is much more demanding.

A shower is a kind of choreography.
-A physical scene. -That's right.

In fact, we got to this one faster
than the other one.

I told them that
and they didn't believe me.

The kiss and the fight were mystified,

but the other scene was really hard.

I don't remember how many times
I've been beaten up.

One day I go to school,
and this little Ružić,

he was in "Obraz,"
comes up to me and spits in my face.

I slapped him in the face.

After school,
three of them waited for me.

Three of them against me alone.

They started punching and kicking me.
They just hit me on the head.

The blood was flowing.
I didn't know if I was alive or dead.

I looked at one of them, and he said,
"Do you like sucking dick, huh?"

"You like sucking dick, don't you?"

During this time, I realised

that the atmosphere had improved
somewhat compared to "Skinning,"

where there were death threats,
a police cordon at the premiere

and a really difficult
life situation in 2010.

Sorry for interrupting your lesson.

Novica, is that you?

Professor!
I've thought about your offer.

I decided not to be your boyfriend.
-Excuse me?

I won't be your boyfriend.
Are you deaf?

I don't see you that way.
You're a great guy and all...

But I don't see you that way.
-Novice, calm down.

We can be friends.
Actually, we can't.

Because you're a twisted faggot.

I took your advice, professor.
I didn't apply.

Why was the reaction
to 'Skinnig' worse?

You're poking around where you
shouldn't. -Like we're tough, huligans.

Racism. -No, in "Skinning" that was
the first time that patriotism

was portrayed as Nazism,
as fascism.

I think they got that right

and it was appropriate
that they were so pissed off.

It was something
that was politically hidden.

You hide these pure fascist ideas
according to Umberto Eco's definition,

based on these ten points.

You hide them behind a Serbdom.
They say we are not fascists,

but we hate these, we hate those.

You fulfil all criteria, but in reality
you hide under the mask of patriotism.

In fact, there is a cowardice
in domestic films when it comes

to discussing certain things openly.

All of that is kind of wrapped up
in 350 layers.

That's why I wanted "Next to me"
which is an activist film,

to also be a teenage film
that someone would watch.

We have this lie that everyone buys.

That committed films are art
tailored to European funds,

which is seen by thousands in cinemas
as an activist film.

No, an activist film is
when you reach out to

to people outside the zone
of those you agree with.

In English they say
"preaching to the converted,"

which means you preach
to those who share your views.

We can see that on Twitter.

There's no retreat, no surrender.
Serbia to the Serbs.

Where did you buy this shirt?
-It's from the New Yorker.

Well, I'm working class.
Nothing fancy. -Not into Calvin Klein?

What do you think guys?
Biceps or triceps?

I don't mean what do you think of mine.
What's more important in general?

The triceps have three in the name.
-The triceps is the real deal.

Three is Serbian.
-It's very important.

What do the girls say about that?
-They ask if it's from CrossFit.

You're into girls? -Why? You aren't?
-I'm just asking.

Bro. -We can do it like this.
-It's a bit swishy.

There is nothing to be afraid of.
It's enough to be self-confident.

I'm going to take a shower now.
-Let's go.

Do you intend to become serious?

I'm always serious. Don't get upset,
but I have something nice to tell you.

I don't get upset by myself.

Do you know what I found out?
-What did you find out? -Women.

What are you doing?

Did you know that women have never
been condemned for their gay roles?

Can you do that, Miloš?
-Of course, I can.

How many sets of this do you do?
-That depends on the weight.

Come on, try it now.
Try to do it slower.

That's good. One more time.

That's it.

Now it's your turn. That's 70kg.

Do you want to lose a little weight?
-Let me try first.

Just take it slowly.
Don't rush.

The scene in which you appear
and your character kisses the man

is shown as if you were coming home
and kissing your wife,

there's no difference.

I thought you had stood me up again.

You?

Never!

They only included the fact
that you are gay in the show.

Did you then have to change
your approach to your character?

And how do you play gay?
-That's the question.

It's not played,
either you're or you aren't not.

It's as if you're no longer playing
as a Serb, but as a Hungarian.

You don't play him differently.

I'm asking you because people
who play a gay character

immediately add
some feminized elements

but your character
remained practically the same.

I didn't see the character like that.
I saw him as a gay macho.

That's exactly what bothered people.

Miloš Timotijević after gay scene,
"I received hate messages."

"I don't regret playing a homosexual."

It was a surprise.
Expectations were too high.

Most of the children admired this
character because he is so powerful,

because he can bully.

They admired him, and then
it turned out that he was gay.

A gay stuntman could have done that!

That's part of my job.
I didn't make it up.

And even if I had made it up,
it's not important.

I was defending this character.
-That's right.

For this reason, an uneducated,
uncultured nobody

wanted me to die of cancer.

Is that normal? Do we live in
a civilised society? Well, we don't.

This is a society of double standards.

On the one hand, it is deeply
patriarchal and misogynistic,

and on the other,
why can't a macho man be gay?

Are you concerned about this film?
-In what way?

In the sense that someone is going
to cause us problems. -I don't know.

Do you know what the biggest problem
with you Serbs is? -What are you?

He is Celtic.
That's right, Cecili.

I am Celtic. -Does that mean
I am also Celtic? -No, it doesn't.

How did you come up with characters?
-I first made up mom and dad

and the first scene in which
she masturbates and he comes in.

After that he decides to run away,
which I found very funny.

I realised that they had
a problem in their marriage.

I wanted to make a film
with lots of characters

because I like working with actors.

Then I had the idea
that it could be a birthday.

For some reason,
I remembered my birthday in '93

and then I thought about
who should come.

I knew there would be a love triangle.

Since I had a lesbian love triangle,

I had to have a gay couple too.

And since I had them,
I wanted them all.

I wanted to work out
the dynamic between them

and what they bring to the table.

If they were there in '93,
what kind of house is it?

This means that the mother
must have had a gay brother

and she opens up from an early age

to the LGBT community.

Do you think it's likely that so many
queer people will end up in one place?

I didn't want it that way.

When you have
queer people around you,

it suddenly becomes a group,
everyone kind of hangs out together.

Whoa, woman,
what have you got there?

So we can have fun. What's wrong
with that? -Nothing at all.

I'm interested in breaking down
barriers related to cinematography.

You have dealt with all these
LGBT issues very casually,

without much fuss or anything.

That's really wonderful.

Was it generally treated like this
in our cinematography?

I'm referring to this context of LGBT.

Someone said that I strive

to normalise both theme
and characters.

It's true, but I'm aiming for that
with all characters.

So we have an alcoholic
at the party,

and I don't talk
about her alcoholism problem.

She's there, she's entertaining.
Sure, when she gets excessive

she's not that entertaining,
but I just don't portray that moment

or the moments of other characters.

As you said,
the queer moment is part of them,

not their entire life.

There's no reason
to put it in the spotlight.

When we part ways,
you will forget me.

I thought you had stood me up again.
-You?

Never!

Do you have a girlfriend,
or are you going alone?

OPERATION VASELINE

You can't be gay.
Women really hate that.

There are
more and more faggots around us.

They don't hide anymore.
They take high positions everywhere.

I am not satisfied
with my behaviour towards him.

I offered him more
than I should have done.

I think I'll have him in a few years,

and considering
what he's put me through,

I won't forget it.

I will get my revenge on him.

Faster, little pisser.

You came to Belgrade
to be a whore, not a housewife.

We work in the fields all day
in that sun and we get 700 dinars.

Pele, give me back my wig.

Pele, give me back my wig.

Pele, give me back my wig.

You know you're cute, don't you?
-Don't be rude.

You have a cute moustache.

You whore,
in my master's gown.

Whoa, woman,
what have you got there?

Hey, where are you going?
-Do you like sucking dick, huh?

Get the fuck out,
you motherfucking gay.

Have you got Vaseline?

I had it, but I used it up.

When I say to you, "Have you got
Vaseline?", what do you say to me?

I haven't got it.

So...

Is it a problem
to make a film like this?