Big Women
Date:
December 15, 2022
Big Women
Big Women
by Milica Tomović
Big Time Production | Serbia
Non-Aligned Films | Serbia
Live-action feature | 2nd feature
*the access to our meeting platform and director’s previous works will start from January 10, 2025
Logline
Two wild women, best friends and beauticians, embark on an unexpected trip to the coast of Montenegro, to settle forgotten bills, rediscover their friendship, and uncover long-buried secrets.
Synopsis
Mira, naval officer’s wife, sets off with her best friend Tina on a journey from Podgorica to the coast. That trip was ordered by Mira’s mother-in-law, who is owner of the family guesthouse from which Mira can afford her comfortable lifestyle. Along the way two crimes happen. One committed by Mira, unspoken and intangible, only sensed, it has already been repeated several times, the other: a burglary in a guesthouse. Mira’s brother-in-law Danilo, a policeman investigates the burglary, but actually rekindles old passions with Tina.
With each new day the two women discover new traces of the burglary, realizing it was a family with kids who broke into the guesthouse. Along with the traces, it is as if they left their ghosts behind, which two friends touch in order to summon their own past. By evoking shared memories they rebuild their relationship – but the first crime casts a dark shadow over their seemingly carefree girlhood.
Further into the mountains, Mira is forced to confront her previous life and the people she avoided: her estranged father, her friend from elementary school, her husband’s family. But with Tina by her side, she can handle it all, she can ignore the past and suppress the crime she committed. Danilo’s invitation to the big local party tends to ruin Mira’s peace and newfound closeness with Tina. Mira’s insecurity starts to build up and the feelings of guilt flowing from her wrongdoings sneak up on her. She destroys the party and in front of everyone brings out all the artillery against Tina, putting her back in her subordinate place. While Tina, just between the two of them, finally reveals Mira’s crime that is invisible. Mira does not have repeated miscarriages, she repeatedly aborts female fetuses. Exposed and broken down Mira finds refuge in the back seat of an abandoned car. Unexpectedly the engine starts and she gets another chance for redemption by accepting responsibility and her friend’s firm grip. Tina is driving, it’s time to go back.
Director’s Profile
Milica Tomović (1986. SFR Yugoslavia) graduated from the Academy of Dramatic Arts in Belgrade 2011. with the omnibus film “October”, which she made together with her classmates. The film was shown in Cottbus, Trieste, Sofia Film Festival, Isola Cinema and others. In 2016. her short film “Transition” premiered at Locarno Film Festival (Pardi di domani), followed by North American premiere at Toronto International FIlm Festival (Short Cuts). “Transition” won: golden plaque in Serbian short fiction film selection at Belgrade Film Festival, Heart of Sarajevo best short film at Sarajevo Film Festival, Best Director Award at the International Short Film Festival of Cyprus and others.
In 2018 she directed five episodes of TV series “Morning Changes Everything”, that was broadcasted on Serbian National Television (RTS) in prime time with great succes. In 2021. her debut feature film “Celts” had its world premiere at Berlinale Film Festival in Panorama section, after which continued a good festival life (Heart of Sarajevo for Best Director – Sarajevo FF 2021 Jury Prize; Taiwan Film – Critics Association Award; Audience Choice Award – Taipei IFF 2021, Standard Readers’ Jury Prize – Viennale 2021).
She tried herself in a new genre – teenage horror mystery, by directing three episodes of a TV series “Blok 27”, which had its premiere on cable television Supernova in February 2022 and was recently acquired by Beta Film.
Company Profile
BIG TIME PRODUCTION is Belgrade-based production company with a focus on contemporary cinema. Founded by producer Jelena Radenković, the company realized several international co-productions, including Serbian-German co-production CENTAR by Ivan Marković, an awarded experimental documentary, which had the premiere on DocLisboa 2018 and had numerous festival screenings, including Beldocs 2019 (Best Film Award), Dokufest Prizren (Best Newcomer Award), Jakarta International festival (Jury award). Currently, they are developing several documentary and feature projects.
Non-Aligned Films is a Serbian boutique film production company founded by directors Ognjen Glavonić and Stefan Ivančić, along with producer Dragana Jovović. The company aims at working with the finest auteurs from Serbia and former Yugoslavia – filmmakers who are interested in pushing the boundaries of traditional cinema. The most notable films produced by Non-Aligned Films include Dušan Zorić and Matija Gluščević’s Have You Seen This Woman? (Venice, 2022), Ognjen Glavonić’s The Load (Cannes, 2018) and Depth Two (Berlinale, 2016), and minority co-productions such as Ivan Salatić’s You Have the Night (Venice, 2018) and Luka Popadić’s My Swiss Army (Solothurn, 2024). Non-Aligned Films currently has two features, set to premiere in Rotterdam Tiger Competition 2025, Stefan Djordjević’s debut Wind, Talk to Me and the minority co-production Wondrous is the Silence of My Master by Ivan Salatić.