M
In a society overtaken by a deadly virus and a world gone bad, children are the only hope.
The world outside the forest has been ravaged by a deadly pandemic. Eight-year-old Marko lives in the wilderness and the only person he knows is his paranoid, overprotective father. His life suddenly changes when he discovers an innocent gentle boy with Down Syndrome named Miko living on the edge of the forest. Things turn for the worse when the boys are left alone to fend for themselves against the hordes of the Infected. Marko has no clear idea of what it means to have a mother, but the boys must go on a journey to find her. Outside the safety of the forest, Marko is faced with a shattered world shrouded in silence and full of danger and death.
Friday, 29 November – 21:30
Saturday, 30 November – 17:30
ENGLISH SUBTITLES | 96 MIN
DUTCH PREMIERE
M | Vardan Tozija | 2023 | North Macedonia, Croatia, Kosovo, France, Luxembourg
PRODUCTION
Darko Popov, Vardan Tozija – Focus Pocus Films; Les Contes Modernes, 4 Film, In My Country, Wady Films
SCREENPLAY
Vardan Tozija, Darijan Pejovski
DOP
Vladimir Samoilovski
EDITING
Atanas Georgiev, Blagoja Nedelkovski
CAST
Matej Sivakov, Sasko Kocev, Aleksandar Nicovski, Kamka Tocinovski
FESTIVALS & AWARDS (SELECTION)
Cottbus Film Festival, 2023 | A Night of Horror International Film Festival, 2024 – Best International Film | Sofia International Film Festival, 2024 – Special Mention | Fantaspoa, the International Fantastic Film Festival of Porto Alegre, 2024 – Best Director | Macabro, Mexico City International Horror Film Festival, 2024 – Best Director, Audience Award
DIRECTOR’S BIO
Vardan Tozija (1981, Skopje, Macedonia) graduated from the Faculty of Drama Arts in Skopje, Macedonia, Film and TV directing. He also attended law and political science studies at the State University of Cyril and Methodius. He directed several shorts, documentary films and TV series. His debut feature film “Amok” (2016), premiered at the Chicago International Film Festival, was selected by more than thirty film festivals worldwide and acquired numerous awards. “M” is his second feature film.
DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT
Through careful research, I came upon a vision of what our world would look like if it met with a bitter end. The setting would be in the countless ghost towns scattered throughout the Eastern Block, embraced by oblivion and decay. The premise of the plot is that the pain of the society outcasts, such as the fugitives scattered throughout the world, could metastasize into a virus of rage which turns all humans into primordial beings deprived of consciousness, driven only by instinct for survival. That is a metaphor for what I fear our world is heading at the moment – through the repression, humiliation, anger, neglect… and the continuous, hidden feeling of guilt that we are closing our eyes while the ones less fortunate are pushed beyond all limits.
