PRODUCTION: Serbian-Canadian Director Sanja Živković Shoots Cat’s Cry, in the Footsteps of Goran Paskaljević

04-10-2023

PRODUCTION: Serbian-Canadian Director Sanja Živković Shoots Cat’s Cry, in the Footsteps of Goran Paskaljević

By Zoran Janković

Cat's Cry by Sanja Živković credit: Darko Duckin

BELGRADE: The Serbian-Canadian director Sanja Živković started shooting her sophomore feature Cat’s Cry / Mačiji krik, which was supposed to be directed by Goran Paskaljević. After the legendary director passed away in September 2020, his son Vladimir Paskaljević started producing the film in coproduction with Canadian and Croatian partners.

The film deals with the theme of parental responsibility, survival and unconditional love by telling a true story about a worker and his wife who are fighting for the custody of their grandson.

“It is a film inspired by the authentic life story of Zoran Živanović from the Serbian town of Kragujevac. He is a man who was fighting for many years to gain custody of his granddaughter, abandoned by her parents, and to take care of her. And the granddaughter is a child with cat's cry, a disease that is very rare and has no prospect of being cured”, said Goran Paskaljević, who penned the script together with Đorđe Sibinović.

The main cast consists of Jasmin Geljo, Andrijana Đorđević, Sanja Mikitišin, Marija Škaričić, Sergej Trifunović and Srđan Miletić.

The film is produced by Serbia’s Nova film and coproduced by Croartia’s Artizana Film and Serbia’s Cinnamon Films, which is also in charge of the executive production. The film’s producers are: Vladimir Paskaljević, Petar Paskaljević, Ivica Vidanović, Munire Armstrong of YN Films and Irena Škorić, whereas Nevena Savić and Jelica Rosandić are executive producers.

The project was supported by Film Center Serbia with 273,035 EUR / 32 m RSD, the Croatian Audiovisual Centre with 50,000 EUR and Telefilm Canada with 175,451 EUR / 250,000 CAD.

The shooting started on 22 September 2023 and is expected to wrap within 30 days on locations in the Serbian town of Požarevac and its vicinity.

Sanja Živković’s debut feature, Easy Land, a solely Canadian production starring Mirjana Joković and Nina Kiri, premiered in the official programme of the Toronto International Film Festival in 2019.

Production Information:

Producer:
Nova film (Serbia)

Cat's Cry by Sanja Živković, credit: Darko Duckin Coproducers:
Artizana Film (Croatia)
Cinnamon Films (Serbia)
YN Films

Credits:
Director: Sanja Živković
Scriptwriters: Goran Paskaljević, Đorše Sibinović
DoP: Milica Drakulić
Editor: Radojka Vrabac
Costume designer:Senka Radivojević
Production designer: Nevena Marković
Cast: Jasmin Geljo, Andrijana Đorđević, Sanja Mikitišin, Marija Škaričić, Sergej Trifunović, Srđan Miletić, Denis Murić, Sanja Krajnov, Zlatan Vidović, Vesna Paštrović Šašić

Published in Serbia