Forever Hold Your Peace
Forever Hold Your Peace is a comedy set on the Mediterranean seaside, that tells a story of an event which holds a special place in the life of any human being, despite inducing tremendous anxiety – a wedding ceremony.
Two days before the wedding, Dragana, the bride, declares that she won’t go through with it, even though everything is prepared and everyone is aware of the impending ceremony.
Leso, the merciless patriarch of the groom’s family, offers this to the rebellious bride – do the damn wedding, act it out, and then go wherever you want the next day. She accepts. Momo, the offended groom, is still in love with her and hopes she will stay.
A traditional Montenegrin wedding includes an ensemble of wild characters who follow a series of absurd steps, complete with alcohol, gunfire and dynamite. This joyfully farcical event will also bring the worst of their personal dilemmas into play.
Join the cocktail after the screening at 21:20h.
Wednesday, 27 November – 19:15
ENGLISH SUBTITLES | 100 MIN
DUTCH PREMIERE
COCKTAIL AFTER SCREENING
ŽIVI I ZDRAVI | Ivan Marinovic | 2023 | Croatia, Czech Republic, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia
PRODUCTION
Marija Stojanovic, Ivan Marinovic – Adriatic Western; Analog Vision, Kinorama, Sense Production, Krug Film, Spok Film, RTCG
CAST
Tihana Lazovic, Goran Slavic, Momcilo Picuric, Goran Bogdan
SCREENPLAY
Ivan Marinovic
CINEMATOGRAPHY
Dominik Istenic
EDITING
Michal Reich
FESTIVALS & AWARDS (SELECTION)
Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival, 2023 – World Premiere | Filmski Susreti, 2024 – Best Foreign Actress (Tihana Lazovic) | Pula Film Festival, 2024
DIRECTOR’S BIO
Ivan Marinovic (Montenegro, 1984) is an award-winning director, screenwriter and producer. He graduated in industrial design at Polytechnics Milano in 2007 and received an MgA in film directing at FAMU Prague in 2011. His feature debut “The Black Pin” premiered in the Official Competition at the Sarajevo Film Festival in 2016 and was the Montenegrin Oscar candidate for the Academy Awards. Marinkovic is a member of the European Film Academy and was a two-term president of the Montenegrin Association of Film Directors and Producers. “Forever Hold Your Peace” is his second feature film as a writer/director.
DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT
Weddings in coastal Montenegro fit the disaster genre completely. Desperate attempts at dignity of people involved are pure comedy. My generation has a particular struggle with the idea of a wedding, just like the bride in the film. Settling down feels impossible. We know outdated traditions are toxic, so why do we still put on a show for the family and society? This neurosis and this contradiction are relevant and telling. I also aimed not to underestimate the ability of film to spark joy.
