Macedonian Film Festival

ODMAZDA (Osveta)

Released: 2001 - Belgium / Macedonia (In Macedonian/Dutch with English subtitles)
Duration: 103 minutes
Classification: Feature - Drama / War

Director: Jan Hintjens
Writers: Slobodan Despotovski, Bob Goossens
Producer: Jan Hintjens, Eric van Beuren
Leading Roles: Ljupco Todorovski, Refet Abazi, Rik Van Uffelen

Synopsis: Between 1897 and 1902 in Macedonia, we find a story of friendship and betrayal. Two generations later in Belgium, we have a story of love and vengeance.
The two stories, although separated by almost an entire century, unfold alternately and gradually intertwine to merge into one at the end of the film.
In a troubled Macedonia under Ottoman rule, the Macedonian Mitre saves the Turk Osman Karahasan from an ambush. This gesture marks the beginning of a great friendship that must brave all cultural, religious and family conflicts. Everything separates Mitre and Osman: Mitre is a poor Christian Macedonian; Osman is a rich Muslim Turk.
Despite these contrasts, their friendship endures over the years until the day that young Pavel, Mitre’s nephew, unleashes a fury of violence and hate between the two families.
In Belgium, seventy years later, we come across Pavel again, who is now the owner of a Macedonian restaurant in Antwerp and who has assumed another identity. He has one daughter, Els, from whom he has always hidden his past.
Orchan, the Osman’s first male descendent, is designated by his family, after all these years, to find the old man and to carry out the vengeance that is imposed by the code of honor.
The law of tradition will lead Orchan to the final absurdity: before discovering the identity of the man that he must kill, he becomes his friend and falls in love with his daughter.

Director: Jan Hintjens was born in Schoten, Belgium in 1958. After finishing the National Film Academy with distinction, he founded Polygone, a broadcast video studio in Brussels. Two years later he started his own video and film production company, NMP, in Antwerp. As well as making numerous commercial and industrial films, he directed and produced several human interest documentaries, mostly in Africa and the former USSR. Animation has always been a part of his passion. After co-producing several feature films, he directed his first feature film OSVETA - Odmazda.