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Restitucija, ili, San i java stare garde

Eighty Plus
Forum 2025
© Playground produkcija
Milan Kovačević, 80+, in the role of Stevan Arsin, is about to buy records by his own 1960s jazz band, the “Montenegro Five”, in a second-hand record shop in Vienna when his mobile rings. A property valuer in Novi Sad tells him the Serbian state intends to return the house that was expropriated from his family during World War II. Restitution, goodwill: the kindly gentleman, his back heavily stooped, sets off at his very own pace with researcher Nina to his old homeland, consisting of lots of Habsburgian and even more of New Serbian markers – and only a little of former Yugoslavia. In this docu-fiction featuring an amateur cast oozing aged charm, Stevan follows the ingenious tracks laid out by Želimir Žilnik (“80+”, just like his hero, but as youthful, cheeky, funny and witty as ever) and travels through a post-socialist landscape encountering family, friends, old loves and new obstacles. In 1969, Žilnik won the Golden Bear for Early Works, the time has now come for his Late Works: while the bonding may be less radical (soft touch matters), his eye for the political and social at the margins remains sharp.
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by Želimir Žilnik (Director, Screenplay), Tanja Šljivar (Screenplay)
with Milan Kovačević, Milivoj Kiždobranski, Vera Hrćan Ostojić, Mirjana Gardinovački, Lidija Stevanović, Katharina Gualtieri, Radoje Čupić, Nina Stamenković Serbia / Slovenia 2025 Serbian, German 118' Colour World premiere

With

  • Milan Kovačević
  • Milivoj Kiždobranski
  • Vera Hrćan Ostojić
  • Mirjana Gardinovački
  • Lidija Stevanović
  • Katharina Gualtieri
  • Radoje Čupić
  • Nina Stamenković

Crew

Director Želimir Žilnik
Screenplay Želimir Žilnik, Tanja Šljivar
Cinematography Jovan Milinov
Editing Vuk Vukmirović
Sound Design Aleksandar Stojšin
Production Design Ivana Jančić
Producer Sarita Matijević Žilnik
Co-Producers Želimir Žilnik, Miha Černec

Produced by

Playground produkcija

Zilnik produkcija

Staragara

Tramal Films

World Sales

EXPOBLVD

Photos

Želimir Žilnik

© Playground produkcija

Želimir Žilnik is an artist and filmmaker born in 1942 in Novi Sad, Serbia. In his highly prolific career, Žilnik has made over 50 feature and short films, which have been exhibited internationally at film festivals including Berlin, Toronto, Rotterdam, Moscow, and Oberhausen. Since the late 1960s, his socially engaged films have earned him accolades, but he also faced censorship in the 1970s and 1990s for his unflinching criticism of the government apparatus. His power to observe and unleash compelling narratives out of the lives of ordinary people is the common thread throughout his work.

Filmography (selection)

1969 Rani radovi (Early Works) 1976 Paradies. Eine imperialistische Tragikomödie (Paradise. An Imperialist Tragicomedy) 1980 Bolest i ozdravljenje Bude Brakusa (The Illness and Recovery of Buda Brakus) 1984 Druga generacija (The Second Generation) 1986 Lijepe žene prolaze kroz grad (Pretty Women Walking through the City) 1988 Bruklin-Gusinje (Brooklyn-Gusinje) · Tako se kalio čelik (The Way Steel Was Tempered) 1994 Tito po drugi put među Srbima (Tito among the Serbs for the Second Time) 1995 Marble Ass 2000 Trdnjava Evropa (Fortress Europe) 2007 Kenedi se ženi (Kenedi is Getting Married) 2009 Stara škola kapitalizma (The Old School of Capitalism) 2015 Destinacija_Serbistan (Logbook_Serbistan) 2018 Das schönste Land der Welt (The Most Beautiful Country in the World) 2025 Restitucija, ili, San i java stare garde (Eighty Plus)

Bio- & filmography as of Berlinale 2025