Quendrith Johnson

Intro by Quendrith Johnson, Los Angeles Correspondent

 

HERE & THERE: Tamo i Ovde from DARKO LUNGULOV

 

 

Serbian filmmaker Darko Lungulov made his 2009 feature HERE & THERE based on personal experience as "a man with a van" in New York City.

 

On a DIY mission in both the making of the film and distributing it, he wove the story of being a Serbian immigrant into a rich tale of loss and love.

 

Using unusual talents like a cameo from Cyndi Lauper ("Girls Just Want to Have Fun") and lead David Thornton, a veteran actor and musician who has been Lauper's husband since 1991, the film leaves a mark.

 

Darko puts a melodic and melancholy spin on being just another a legal alien in the US. And the results are memorable, echoing universal choices in the lives we carve out for ourselves on any terrain.

 

There are some movies that make you think, this one makes you feel; HERE & THERE, or TAMO I OVDE, leaves you with a stark and oddly forbidding but hopeful feeling - the sign of a meaningful movie.

 

Darko, while traveling between the Balkans, Paris, and New York, has put together his thoughts on making this film and his next, MONUMENT. "Hvala" to Darko (Thanks in Serbian) for this first-person account.

 

On HERE & THERE (Tamo i ovde) by DARKO LUNGULOV, FILMMAKER

 

The story of HERE & THERE is loosely based on my 5-year stint as a man with a van in NYC. While studying film at City College of New York I supported myself driving a van and carrying boxes and furniture every day before and after film classes. Every time my beeper would go off, I would run out of class to make a phone call to my prospective clients. My professors and fellow students thought I was a drug dealer.

 

I entered many people's lives as a mover in New York City. I always knew that this could be a good base for a story. 

 

Here and There was very ambitious first-time low-budget film, because I was actually making two films on two different continents. We shot the NYC part in October of 2007 for 12 days and then shot Belgrade part 4 months later and then some re-shots in NYC in September of 2008. It was a grueling, low-budget shoot with a lot of enthusiasm, international crew from everywhere and people squatting in apartments to save money. The toughest moment during production of "Here&There" by far was, when only 12 days before shooting in Belgrade, Serbia, the US embassy was attacked and burnt by angry protesters. The US government issued a travel warning for Serbia and advised US citizens to leave Serbia. Lead actor David Thornton called me from LA and asked, "is it safe?" Tough call. I felt responsible for the cast and crew. I was in Belgrade and guaranteed him that it was safe. Luckily, in the next few days, things calmed down and we started as planned and filmed for the next 3 weeks in the best possible atmosphere. Our first day of shooting in Belgrade was all over the news. At the end of the shoot, all of the crew and cast from the US and Germany bonded with Serbian crew members and were very sad to leave Belgrade.

 

While Lightyear and E1 are doing our DVD and TV rights distribution, our theatrical distribution was a "do-it-yourself" operation done together with art-house distributor Cinema Purgatorio. It was a true indie-indie distribution. We were deciding whether we spend money on the post-cards or buy tiny advertising space in the newspapers or a $3/day facebook add. It was a nerve-racking, but it is at same time a good feeling of being in control. We even staged guerilla promotional stunt -- Fight For Your Independents in Union Square, New York. Producer George Lekovic and myself together with Balkan Brass band form NY - "Zlatne uste" were guerilla-promoting our NYC theatrical premiere.

 

I also used a "crowd-funding" platform from (www.rockethub.com/)RocketHub, to raise the funds for the US release. I launched"21-bring-here-and-there-to-american-art-house-theaters -- the Bring Here and There to American art-house theaters Campaign. 

 

It went spectacular! In return for rewards such as tickets for the premiere or T-shirts and signed posters or even trip to Belgrade with me as tour guide, fans were contributing money. It funded roughly one forth of the expenses and made a huge difference, and at the same time I sold some tickets in advance. After this experience I even become involved with RocketHub as Director of development!

 

From the press release:

 

"Without any print or television ads, Here and There was 5th among indie-releases for this box office weekend. Director Darko Lungulov and Producer George Lekovic generated significant buzz about the film through a guerilla marketing campaign that included a surprise event in Union Square on Wednesday May 12th. The Balkan Brass Band, Zlatne Uste, played its unique brand of music in Union Square Park as Lungulov spoke with onlookers about the film which Eric Hynes of The Village Voice called “Unexpectedly sublime, like the odd intimacy of wearing gifted pajamas and a friendship forged over a two-liter of beer."

 

Spurned on by this campaign, the premiere on Friday May 14th was completely sold out. Among others present and showing their support throughout this weekend's screenings were David Thornton, Cyndi Lauper, and the legendary director Abel Ferrara. After successful opening weekend Here&There's engagement was extended for another week in Quad cinema."

 

So our DIY theatrical distribution went extremely well, especially after great reviews form Holywood Reporter, LA Times, Village Voice and NY Times. 

 

From mid-May until September, Here&There played in 24 US cities, playing for week or sometimes 2 weeks in each theater.

 

This year I was invited to be in Tribeca Festival Jury, which was a great honor and a great fun. I saw many great movies, met many great filmmakers and had a amazing opportunity to take a part in decision making process of who the next Best NY Narrative Award winner will be. 

 

Next film, work title: MONUMENT

 

Marko, a middle-aged optimistic daydreamer, has a simple plan - to breathe life back into his dying Serbian hometown by building a monument to Michael Jackson. 

 

Somewhere in rural Serbia, there is a dying town where people are overcome by apathy and hopelessness. It is home to a middle-aged optimistic daydreamer named Marko.

 

Inspired by Michael Jackson's comeback tour, Marko gets the idea to erect a monument to the pop idol in a bid to draw media attention to his dying town. The idea attracts both enthusiastic support and violent opposition. 

 

A group of colorful outsiders gather to help Marko build his monument. They are Jelena, a terminally ill girl in a wheelchair and huge Michael Jackson fan; her father conservative sebum orthodox priest is reluctantly following her; Doki, a Gypsy, who makes his living recycling scrap metal and who wants to contribute to the monument of his "Gypsy" Michael; Goran, an aspiring amateur-sculptor in his fifties, and Dusan, a military pilot on the brink of losing his job due to the army's transition into professionalization. Against all odds, the group successfully completes the sculpture, working secretly in a hangar of Dusan's semi-abandoned military airport. However, under the pressure from the right-wing group Clean Serbia, Dragan, the major of the town, suddenly revokes the monument's permit...

 

This film will be a dark comedy with characteristically Balkan humor -- sarcastic, sharp, at times dry and at the other times outrageous and hilarious. This will be balanced with warm, human story elements, such as the need for heroes and the ability to dream the craziest dreams and make them come true at any cost.

 

"Monument to Michael Jackson" was awarded project-development funding under the MEDIA (EU) program and a production grant from City of Belgrade Film Fund. It was nominated for Balkan Fund Script development Award at 50th International Thesaloniki Film Festival in Greece and selected to CineLink program of Sarajevo Film Festival. This project will be developed during year-long EAVE ( European Audiovisual Entrepreneurs) program for talented European producers.