Stela - Стела
After an attempt of suicide of an 11 year old bullied child, Stela "a shepherd dog" is the only one that can get through to him and restore his faith in life.
Languages: Macedonian / German ( English subtitles)
Duration: 91 minutes
Genres: Drama / Family
Countries of Production: Republic of Macedonia / Serbia / Germany
Director Information:
Stojan Vujicic
At age of 10, Stojan began making short art movies with his family Super-8 camera. He graduate at University for management and tourism-Macedonia, and spent his
20s and 30s working on advertisements. Over the course of last 15 years of film making, Stojan has gone from low-budget independent short films, than documentaries to working on some of the Macedonian movies. He is recognised at a number of international film festivals with his visual style and working on topics connected with family values and children. Currently employed as a film director in Dream Factory Macedonia.
Director’s note:
What’s Stela about?
Stela is a film about love...
Stela is a film about being human...
Stela is a film about reaching the inner peace...
Stela is a film about non – violence as a path towards peace – peace with ourselves and with others.
Stela is a film about the truth – one, unique and unalterable category
Stela is a film about all of the things we slowly forget which can show us we are worthy as people.
To put it in one sentence – STELA IS A FILM ABOUT HOPE worth having.
I have a need to tell a story about hope which I experienced in my own life. The story i’ve created with in this film has been told many times before, but not always as clear. Through directing of STELA i’ve succeed to show maybe the biggest conflict in our new modern world, the story of non-acceptance and misunderstanding between each-other, especially amid family relations. The film is told through the problematic relationship of a 11 year old boy with the environment which is an obstacle to his maturing. In a situation he can’t find support among people, his hope in life comes from the shepherd dog Stela and one old loner. The love and the energy the child gets from the dog is a whole new world to him. More importantly, he finds a will to live, learns that things can be different, that can be better. Through the child’s journey, a whole new world of intertwined relations and destinies is revealed.
The basic conflict in Stela is between the inner feeling of every character and the assumption of the environment about how s/he feels. Nobody tries to get to the core of the truth which is rarely pretty, but is essential for things to get better. And for the end, they say hope dies last, we say – only if we let it die.
Stela won’t let that happen.