28th Ji.hlava International Documentary Film Festival

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Looking for Horses
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Looking for Horses
Looking for Horses
Looking for Horses
Looking for Horses

Looking for Horses

director: Stefan Pavlović
original title: Looking for Horses
country: Netherlands, Bosnia and Herzegovina, France
year: 2021
running time: 87 min.

synopsis

In an attempt to find his roots, the young director travels to Bosnia where he encounters a fisherman who has been living in solitude by a lake for the last eighteen years, away from civilisation, having taken refuge there after losing his hearing during the Bosnian War. Despite the communication barriers caused by the veteran’s hearing impairment as well as the fact that the filmmaker has been forgetting his native tongue and that he stutters, a strong bond gradually forms between the two men. Awarded at the Visions du Réel, Nancy and Sarajevo festivals, this poetic documentary not only charts the emergence of an unlikely friendship, but also finds an oasis of lake-world tranquillity in the midst of a broken country the conflicts in which have scarred generations.  


„I was really moved by the contrast of his traumatic life versus his (fisherman’s) warmth and kindness. Getting to know him over the years, I was touched that even though I was not able to speak the language and him not hearing so well, and despite all our differences, we could sit together, spend time together and pay attention to each other.” (Stefan Pavlovic)


biography

Stefan Pavlovic was born in the Netherlands to Bosnian parents. He studied film at the Art Center College of Design in California, then worked as an assistant to Tom Kuntz, a creator of commercials and music videos. Based on building intimate interpersonal relationships, his documentary works oscillate between experimentation and narrative.

more about film

director: Stefan Pavlović
producer: Kostana Banović, Marleen de Witte, Eyal Sivan
script: Stefan Pavlović
editing: Sabine Groenewegen
music: Karsten Fundal
sound: Stefan Pavlović
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