Since I was very young, my father used to tell me how we all have impact on the world around us, and that it’s our responsibility to make it slightly better, even if maybe, at a time, it would seem as a delusion. Until his last days he persistently claimed I must believe that films should also bare those ideas and thoughts. Today, I comprehend his sadness and confusion of the reality that we live in, and the worry of the bleak outcome that our future may bring.

I was a fan of fantasy novels since my childhood. That was the initial impulse to put this fairy tale of a special little boy and his broken, stern father into a dystopian world.

So, “M” is a coming of age fantasy drama set up in a slightly unconventional frame – a postapocalyptic, dystopian world of the near future. The narrative threads of the story intertwine between Marko’s fantasies and the grim reality that surrounds him. The Little Prince as he is, he cannot fully comprehend the terror that lies beneath his “magic forest”. On the other hand, we, the observers, can feel the sorrow and despair that entangles boy’s grim reality through the eyes of the Father.

The first part of the film would depict the complicated connection between the grief-torn, paranoid father and the silent child, their solitude and isolation in the distant forest. At first glance, very few details and strange behavior would reveal the true content of the story.

Second narrative angle is the pure hearted friendship between Marko and the boy with Down Syndrome called Momo. My numerous encounters with youngsters from the Special Olympics have shown me how through sincerity and unconditional love, one could overcome every obstacle. And in the context of this story, how they could fight off a virus of rage.

The last part would be the quest for meaning of a little boy in a derelict world. Although at a first glance it may seem that it’s a place of horror and gore, I would put it as a testimony of an infinite sorrow. A sad presumption of how we broke our most precious toy. Through careful research I came upon a vision of what our world would looked like if it met with a bitter end. The setting would be in the countless ghost towns scattered throughout the Eastern Block, embraced by oblivion and decay.

The premise of the plot is that the pain of the society outcasts, such as the fugitives scattered throughout the world, could metastasize into a virus of rage which turns all humans into primordial beings deprived of consciousness, driven only by instinct for survival. That is a metaphor of what I fear our world is heading at the moment – through the repression, humiliation, anger, neglect… and the continuous, hidden feeling of guilt that we are closing our eyes while the ones less fortunate are pushed beyond all limits.

Film Listing 19th Annual Macedonian Film Festival 2024

20 Years of MFF

200+ Movies Shown

9037 Visitors

3951 Digital Fans

Film Listing
19th Annual Macedonian Film Festival
2024

20
Years of MFF

200+
Movies Shown

9037
Visitors

3951
Digital Fans