29th Ji.hlava International Documentary Film Festival

24. 10.–2. 11. 2025
Log inČeštinaEnglish
Symphony of the Heaven City
Symphony of the Heaven City
Symphony of the Heaven City
Symphony of the Heaven City

Symphony of the Heaven City

Lordan Zafranović / Serbia, Montenegro / 2003 / 57 min.


synopsis

A story of contrasts between past and present, life and death, in Shanghai, the biggest city of the People’s Republic of China. The film depicts national commemorations as a way of sanitizing and forgetting the past, the importance of spectacle in the creation of a national consciousness. In criticizing histories and wars built on nationalism and in depicting the growth of capitalism, the symbolic fireworks ironically celebrate the present as a memory of the Second World War, introducing an avant-garde way of experimental historical documentation.

Detail:
The only human sound  is a baby's cry, a Weltschmerz, in the ruins of the old Shanghai South Railway Station on “Bloody Sunday” after the Japanese bombing in August 1937.

more about film

director: Lordan Zafranović
producer: Aleksandar Janković, Gavrilo Azinović, Svetlana Bandić
photography: Vojislav Popović
editing: Petar Jakonić
music: Milena Slepcević
sound: Velibor Hajduković, Nebojsa Zorić

contact

Croatian Film Association / Marija Ratković Vidaković / Tuškanac 1 /  Zagreb / Croatia / 10 000 / +3851 484 8771 / marija.ratkovic.vidakovic@hfs.hr / http://hfs.hr/

Film at festival

festival edition:2015
section:Masterclass
colour:Colour

Info

director:Lordan Zafranović
original title:Simfonija nebeskog grada
country:Serbia, Montenegro
year:2003
running time:57 min.

Festival partners

Ministerstvo kultury
Fond kinematografie
Město Jihlava
Kraj Vysočina
Creative Europe Media
GEMO
Česká televize
Český rozhlas
Aktuálně.cz
Respekt
Dafilms

Newsletter

I confirm that I agree with Principles Relating to Personal Data Processing for Ji.hlava IDFF. More info here.

Days until the festival

0