“Possibility of paradise” interview with director Mladen Kovačević

September 11, 2024

Mladen Kovačević, director of “Possibility of paradise”, the search for a new Eden

“Possibility of paradise” interview with director Mladen Kovačević Maria Bonsanti

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In “Possibility of paradise”, the Serbian Filmmaker Mladen Kovačević (“4 years in 10 minutes”, “Merry Christmas Yiwu”, “Another Spring” ) follows 7 different people at a turning phase of their life. They all have in common the fact that they live in the same country, in Indonesia, but this information is not unveiled in the film: we are supposedly in what, at a first sight, incarnates the western idea of Paradise, a tropical island. Instead, we’re in Purgatory, waiting for Paradise, and finding out that things are not what we expected.

Mladen Kovačević explains that the inspiration for the documentary comes from the Divina Commedia. The seven stories correspond to the seven circles – called “cornici”- of the Purgatory. They are introduced by a prologue in which a group of little girls at school wait for the rain to stop. They are the only characters belonging to the island and the only ones who live into the present. The others are all foreigners, following a dream, searching the perfect spot to turn a page, between what’s left and what will come next.

Plot

Schoolkids living on the top of the paradise island wait for the rain to stop. A former advertising executive is closing a land deal for her new villa. An entrepreneur battles nature while building a resort in the jungle. A veterinarian works cleaning snakes from the gardens of the foreigners. An influencer, disillusioned with love, recovers from losing everything overnight. A father and son prepare to leave for good, not knowing where. A dancer adopts a new identity, distancing herself from everything she’s ever known. Divers venture into uncharted waters, risking their lives for the challenge of conquest. The tensions between life’s possibilities revolve around the question of what life one should be living, with every decision leading to a different version of oneself. And while the earthly paradise might be nothing more than an ideal of imagination, humanity’s relentless pursuit for happiness persists.

Written by: Maria Bonsanti

Guest

Mladen Kovacevic

Film

Possibility of paradise

Festival

Giornate degli Autori - Venezia

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“Possibility of paradise” interview with director Mladen Kovačević

Mladen Kovačević, director of “Possibility of paradise”, the search for a new Eden

Plot

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