Bašta Fest continues the old tradition – as part of the non-competitional program, we close the festival with a debut feature film that (according to the Bašta Fest team) marked the past year. At this year’s festival on July 4th, after the awards ceremony, at our favourite location by the Lake Perućac, the audience will have the opportunity to watch Nemanja Ćeranić’s film “Loan Shark”.
Director Nemanja Ćeranić shared with us: “My first short film participated in the first Bašta Fest in 2014. This year the audience will have the opportunity to watch my debut film “Loan Shark” at the closing night. It is a great honour for me, above all, to be part of the team again. Interestingly, this is both a local and universal story about debt that concerns all of us. Guests and residents of Bajina Basta will have the opportunity to see something close to us, yet on the periphery, marginalized and sometimes barely noticeable, even though it is always present around us. “
“Loan Shark” is the first Serbian film to be made and completed during the pandemic, and the young enthusiastic team pushed through the shooting of this film in just 15 days. We especially want to highlight that we have previously screened Nemanja’s short film “Farmer”, and that we are always glad to follow the path of a young author from the very beginning. Additionally, this film is an example of a similar journey as that of Basta Fest – a young enthusiastic team returned to their municipality of Indjija and made a film there, recording that mentality and preserving the spirit of the time, with a focus on decentralization.
Synopsis: Mundir pays back to the criminal who has lent him the money to get into this business, then collects all the remaining money from his debtors. He believes that he has closed a chapter in his life. He is one step away from making his retirement dream come true. However, the stress of the day causes a diabetic shock and Mundir makes one wrong move that could cost him dearly.
“Loan Shark” premiered at the 49th Fest Belgrade, where it also received the “Milutin Colic” award for the best Serbian film. The screenplay was written by a young author Strahinja Madžarević, and the film stars Dušan Petković, Strahinja Blažić, Branko Vidaković Čombe, Milica Grujičić, Zlatan Vidović, Ivan Đorđević Džudi, Mladen Andrejević, Aleksandar Đurica, Tatjana Venčalovski, Miloš Milaković Ćićo, Stefan Bundalo, Sunčica Milanović, Jovo Maksić, Dragoljub Ceranic, Petar Milicevic, Nemanja Zubac, Kristijan Markovic. Producer is Aljoša Ćeranić, director of the photography Dušan Grubin, editor Milorad Ćitić, composer Dalibor Vrzić.