Humidity will open FEST 2016.

Humidity is a modern story with thriller elements. The main character is Petar, a young manager whose life is turned upside down after his wife suddenly vanishes. Petar tries to conceal her disappearance and move on with normal life. While he attempts to keep his image perfect during the day, he can’t sleep at night. He starts running the empty streets only to discover a different face of his city, its contrasts and conflicts he never used to notice. In the period of one week, Petar is drawn into a whirlwind of curious events, while his fears and insecurities increasingly emerge on the surface. The more he tries to suppress them, the stronger they grow.

Humidity is the first feature film of Nikola Ljuca, whose short films Thursday, the Sergeant and Scenes with Women were shown at many international and Serbian film festivals.

The co-writer of the film is Stasa Bajac and starring are Milos Timotijevic and Tamara Krcunovic, as well as Slaven Doslo, Katarina Markovic, Vanja Ejdus, Maria Krakman, Jasna Beri, Jelena Stupljanin, Borka Tomovic, Biljana Keskenovic, Vladimir Aleksic, Milan Maric, Fedja Stojanovic and the Dutch actor of Serbian descent Dragan Bakema, in his first role in a Serbian film.

Here’s what Ljuca had to say about his film opening the 44thFEST:

“In 2001, FEST showed two films that are very important to me - “Dancing in the Dark” and “Magnolia” at closing night. It’s because these two films that I decided to become a director, they made me realize who I was and what I want in life. In 2014 I finished the shoot of my first feature film, Humidity, in front of Sava Center and I realized that Lars von Trier and Paul Thomas Anderson kind of brought me there. I now know that my film is going to open FEST and that I will be able to bow down to the audience in Sava Center. I can’t describe how happy and grateful I am for that; the feeling is so deep and complex that it’s beyond words.”

“I am looking forward to the FEST viewers to face a completely new energy that the film Humidity brings to Serbian film. Nikola Ljuca is one of these authors who has managed to exceed our most demanding expectations with his debut feature film”, said Jugoslav Pantelic, the Art Director of FEST. 

Humidity’s first success came in early 2011, when it was selected for the Script Station platform for script development, in the scope of the Berlin Film Festival and ended up as one of the 12 scripts in the world that was rewarded with financial support of the Hubert Bals Fund in the Netherlands. Humidity was produced by Dart Film from Belgrade, with the support of Cinnamon Productions. The entire project was realized as an international co-production between Serbia and the Netherlands, with the support of the Film Centre of Serbia.

Humidity will be shown on FEST as part of the competition program “Serbian Film.”