Sceneggiatura / Screenplay: Janez Burger, Srđan Koljević
Fotografia / Photography: Marko Brdar
Montaggio / Editing: Miloš Kalusek
Suono / Sound: Julij Zornik, Igor Popovski
Scenografia / Art Directors: Vasja Kokelj, Špela Jelovčan
Costumi / Costume Designer: Ana Savić Gecan
Interpreti / Cast: Diana Kolenc, Nataša Keser, Jure Henigman, Vladimir Vlaškalić
Produzione / Produced by: Staragara
Coproduzione / Co-produced by: Transmedia Production, Propeler Film, Kaval Film, RTV Slovenija
Con il sostegno di / Supported by: Slovenian Film Centre, FS Viba Film, Croatian Audiovisual Centre, FVG Audiovisual Fund, Italian Ministry of Culture, Film Agency of North Macedonia, Creative Europe Media
Distribuzione internazionale / World Sales: Slingshot Films
Distribuzione per l’Italia /Distributed in Italy by: Arch Film
Lara, a paramedic intern, helps bring a young man named Christian to hospital after he was brutally beaten and his beating live-streamed on Facebook. The video was watched by 20.000 people, none of whom called the police. Although Christian is in a coma, Lara starts receiving video clips from his FB profile, showing unidentified persons watching him getting beaten. She reports this to the police, but the video clips nevertheless develop into her worst nightmare. Observing premiered at the latest Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival (PÖFF).
“I am talking about the empathy that is dying on a very intimate level of each individual. About elementary empathy. When you sympathise with another human being. When you feel the need for help in another human being and give it unconditionally as best as you can. Immediately. Sometimes an understanding look is enough, sometimes a word, sometimes a talk, sometimes a cry for help. Minimal effort is needed for this kind of empathy, but, in most cases, even that is too much. This is a form of passivity that is buried deep inside us. Mostly, we are not even aware of it, but it eats us up slowly, from within, and thus dehumanizes us. An intimate passivity with global dimensions. Without a shift in our heads, which will again define us as internally active sentient beings, we will not be able to turn the course of events causing the disintegration of our society and ruining humanity. This is the passivity I talk about in Observing.” (J. Burger)
Janez Burger
Slovenian film director and writer Janez Burger was born in 1965 in Kranj, now Slovenia. He graduated in Film and TV Directing in 1996 from FAMU in Prague. He is a professor of Film Directing at the School of Arts, University of Nova Gorica and AGRFT in Ljubljana, where he lives and works. In 2003, together with Jan Cvitkovič, he founded the production company Staragara. For his films, he has won several awards at Slovenian and international film festivals. His debut film Idle Running, multi-awarded and selected in more than 60 festivals, was awarded Best Feature Film at the Trieste FF in 2000. In 2008 On the Sunny Side of the Alps won a Special Mention in the Short Film Competition at the Trieste FF.
Selected filmography
1999 V Ieru (Idle Running); Premi / Awards: Trieste FF – Miglior film / Best Film; Cottbus FF – Gran premio, Premio Don Quixote / Grand Prize, Don Quixote Award 2004 Rusevine; Premi / Awards: Slovenian FF – Miglior regia, Premio del pubblico / Best Director, Audience Award 2007 Na soncni strani Alp (On the Sunny Side of the Alps) cm / sf; Premi / Awards: Trieste FF – Menzione speciale / Special mention 2010 Circus Fantasticus; Premi / Awards: Slovenian FF – Miglior regia / Best Director 2013 Priletni parazit ali kdo je Marko Brecelj?; Premi / Awards: Slovenian FF – Miglior documentario / Best Documentary 2017 Ivan; Premi / Awards: Slovenian FF – Miglior film, Miglior sceneggiatura, Migliore attrice, Miglior fotografia, Miglior trucco, Miglior colonna sonora / Best Feature Film, Best Script, Best Actress, Best Photography, Best Make-up, Best Music 2023 Opazovanje (Observing); Premi / Awards: Slovenian FF – Migliore attrice, Miglior scenografia / Best Actress, Best Production Design.
