Taskovski Film Sales has announced the pick-up of Possibility of Paradise, directed by Serbian Mladen Kovačević, ahead of its September 3 Venice FF world premiere in Giornate Degli Autori. The film is produced by Iva Plemić Divjak for Horopter Film Production.
The logline of Possibility of Paradise reads how, drawn to a paradise island in the quest for happiness, the protagonists grapple with the endless tensions between life’s possibilities, but the question remains if they are living the life they should be living.
Irena Taskovski, CEO & Head of Acquisitions at Taskovski Films, comments: “We are proud of Mladen Kovacevic and Iva Plemić as they present Possibility of Paradise in Venice. Mladen’s unique cinematic voice and the film’s masterful cinematography create a thought-provoking experience that serves as a mirror to many of us. With 20 years of championing unique talents worldwide, Taskovski Films believes this film’s universal themes and creative brilliance will connect with audiences globally, and we’re dedicated to ensuring it reaches its full potential.”
Based in Belgrade (Serbia) Mladen Kovačević’s previous films Unplugged (2013), Wall of Death, and All That (2016), 4 Years in 10 Minutes (2018), Merry Christmas, Yiwu (2020) and Another Spring (2022) have been selected at festivals such as Rotterdam, Karlovy Vary, Visions du Réel, IDFA, Hot Docs, CPH:DOX, FIDMarseille and others, winning numerous awards. He is currently shooting the docu-fiction Koryo and developing the fiction feature Behind the Curtains, Behind the Trees.
Of Possibility of Paradise Kovačević writes: “Through the simplicity of realism, Possibility of Paradise attempts to evade forced meanings, allowing the direct experience of the character’s lives to prevail, each narrative fragment a new possibility. I drew subtle inspiration from the verse ‘And now the little vessel of my mind, sets sail across the better waves, leaving a sea of cruelty behind’ from Dante’s Purgatory, and the film’s setting is deliberately reminiscent of the hilly island with the Garden of Eden on its summit. However, adorned with palm trees and occupied by foreigners, the paradise setting resonates colonial imagery; the old quest for God, gold, and glory has now become a quest for happiness. This is where film’s protagonists have come to seek a good life, outside of familiar societies and ideologies, far removed from all they have ever known.”
