Part of SFFILM Festival
The Load
Description
Though rarely spoken of, the unseen contents of a plain, white cargo van are at the center of Ognjen Glavonić’s tense and moving political drama about moral responsibility during times of war and conflict. Leon Lucev plays Vlada, a driver for hire for the Serbian government, transporting a vehicle from Kosovo to Belgrade, whose journey takes him into unexpected territory, both physical and ethical. Glavonić’s absorbing film occasionally departs from Vlada’s trip, following secondary characters and moments, details that subtly underline the omnipresent circles of moral culpability and their impact.
“Taking inspiration from shocking real-life events, the writer-director’s debut fictional feature goes a step further, illustrating that the emotional toll is both utterly inescapable and often relegated to fester in the recesses of memory. It’s a weighty, complex subject, but one this clear-eyed political thriller doesn’t shy away from at any moment.” – Sarah Ward, Screen International
“An exceptional war film that never once shows the atrocities of war, never tries to represent the unrepresentable. Rather, Glavonić’s focus is on the heavy burden of guilt borne by those who, even if they never participated directly and tried only to cope with the difficulties of war, by their very inaction make themselves complicit in war’s horrors.” – Azadeh Jafari, Cinema Scope
Ognjen Glavonić’s short films include Zivan Pujic Jimmy (2009), Rhythm Guitar, Backing Vocal (2010), and Made of Ashes (2012). He made his feature debut with the documentary Zivan Makes a Punk Festival (2014), winner of the Music Docs Award at the Brussels International Film Festival. His second feature documentary, Depth Two (2016), won the Best Feature-Length Documentary Award at Festival Del Popoli and the Grand Prix at the Belgrade Documentary and Short Film Festival. The Load is his feature narrative debut.
Film Details
Year 2018
Language Serbian
Runtime 98
Country Serbia/France/Croatia/Iran/Qatar
Director Ognjen Glavonić
Producer Ognjen Glavonić, Stefan Ivančić, Sophie Erbs, Dragana Jovović
Writer Ognjen Glavonić
Editor Jelena Maksimović
Cinematographer Tatjana Krstevski
Cast Leon Lučev, Pavle Čemerikic, Tamara Krcunović
Print Source Grasshopper Filmnick@grasshopperfilm.comgrasshopperfilm.com
Original Language Title Teret
