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Shifting Pictures: Another Spring

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Archival footage medical thriller, following the events of the 1972 smallpox epidemic in Yugoslavia.

director
Mladen Kovačević
running time
89′
spoken language
Serbian, Albanian
subtitles
English
Ibrahim Hoti travelled in 1972 from his village in Kosovo to Mecca on a spiritual pilgrimage. His bus made an unplanned stop at the Baghdad souq, where he purchased some souvenirs. Already the next day he fell ill, and so started the final outbreak of smallpox in Europe. Smallpox was the deadliest disease in human history that killed almost 500 million people in the 20th century alone. It is also the only virus eradicated by humans, which is regarded as one of the biggest achievements of our civilization. In the story that united the entire world, the Yugoslavian epidemic is remembered as one of the most horrifying and inspiring chapters.

Another Spring consists only of archival footage and detailed narration of Dr Zoran Radovanović, recounting the distressing days of the smallpox outbreak in Yugoslavia from the very beginning. But the fastidious way the archive was selected and treated turns this film into a compelling audiovisual experience, well beyond providing information about the events it covers.

Slowed down archival footage is accompanied by the haunting, atmospheric score of Jakov Munižaba, giving this film the ring of a thriller or even horror film. Another Spring premiered in Karlovy Vary, and also screened at IFFR.

Read more about <strong>Mladen Kovačević</strong>

Mladen Kovačević is a documentary director from Serbia whose poetic approach is rooted in simplicity of realism; his films explore various styles with idiosyncratic dramatic structures and the unconventional approach to naturalistic aesthetics. Mladen Kovačević’s films have been screened at festivals around the world, including IFFR, Visions du Réel, IDFA, Hot Docs, DOK Leipzig, CPH:DOX, FIDMarseille, being awarded and broadcasted internationally. Another Spring is his fourth feature documentary.