Review:
Franz Kafka once wrote: “In the struggle between yourself and the world, back the world.” This quotation takes on new meaning in ERASED, in which a mother suddenly finds herself stateless and helpless following the break-up of Yugoslavia. Though a life-long Slovenian, she was born in – and so is a national of – Serbia, and upon giving birth the authorities are alerted to her bureaucratic non-existence. From this point on she is restricted and withheld. Her baby, being legally an orphan, is put up for adoption. Her Yugoslav ID card is slashed. She is threatened with deportation to Bosnia – a country to which she has even less association than Serbia. The world, as Kafka suggests, is very much winning.
But in this complex, convoluted traipse through the bureaucracy of Slovenia, Ana (Judita Frankovic, whose performance won her the award for Best Actress at the Festival of Slovenian Film 2018) is dauntless. She faces down the state as best she can, refusing her erasure with a loud, consistent struggle. Director Miha Mazzini uses a realist aesthetic, but one which still embodies certain hope for those rendered stateless. For all its Kafkaesque allusions, ERASED is nevertheless a film that champions the struggle against such arbitrary and immoral practices. Reviewed by Milo Garner
Credits:
Director: Miha Mazzini
Writer: Miha Mazzini
Producer: Frank Celarc
Executive Producer: Frank Celarc
Cast: Judita Frankovic, Sebastijan Cavazza, Jernej Kogovšek, Doroteja Nadrah, Izudin Bajrovic
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Wine Lake
Directed by Platon Theodoris
Narrative Short / Australia / 9 mins
World Premiere
A homeless Irish alcoholic and an artistic backpacker clash on a Sydney street over a misunderstanding. Once the tension is resolved the two quickly develop an unlikely connection over the backpacker’s art.
Book your tickets here.