In the pristine mountains of Montenegro, a semi-nomadic mother and daughter defend their herding tradition and their land from becoming a NATO military training ground. A gripping family and environmental drama unfolds, as the story of violence against women echoes that of violence against nature.
SYNOPSIS
Gara (59) and her daughter Nada (13) belong to an ancient semi-nomadic tribe that herds animals and forages for medicinal herbs in pristine mountains of Montenegro. They walk for days to reach the impressive range of meadows and peaks at 2,000 m above sea level, evoking Biblical landscapes from old masters’ paintings. At the same time, layers and echoes of complexity reveal the intense bond between mother and daughter. In fact, Gara is not really Nada’s mother, but her aunt. Nada was still a baby when her mother was murdered by her violent husband. The Mountain embraced their wounded souls to heal them.
One day, the soft mountain breeze was disturbed by news that the meadows of Sinjajevina are to become a military proving ground. Without consulting the locals, the Government of Montenegro opens an international proving ground for combat shooting, within the UNESCO biosphere reserve. Gara stands up to defend the land of her ancestors by challenging the ruling government and the patriarchal tradition, hoping for the unity of locals and activists. Aware that Nada’s father will soon be released from prison, she also has to make sure the young girl is ready for the upcoming confrontation.
While the Sinjajevina landscape is desecrated by military exercises and its animals scared by gun fire, Nada grows from child into a young woman, determined to build on Gara’s resistance and carry on the fight for her land and her identity.
Director Statement
For me as an artist, working on this film means going to the end in finding the truth of what attracted me in the first place, and also finding the form to convey it. I wish to succeed in making a piece of cinema that would move the audience in a visceral way as a fiction film might, as well as allow them to see how environmental issues are linked to everything we do, and encourage them to take care of our common mother nature.
Supporter Statement
“We were impressed by this project which brings us to a place we didn’t know existed, a place of striking beauty and importance to humanity. A story of the human being in a David against Goliath battle, urgently reminding us not to lose our way in the fog of war.”
- CPH:DOX Forum 2022 Jury
(https://variety.com/2022/film/global/natasa-urban-the-eclipse-cphdox-1235221357/)
ABOUT FILMMAKER(S)
Director Biljana Tutorov
BILJANA TUTOROV is a director and producer of feature and documentary films, video works and performances focused on women-driven stories which examine contemporary political reality, state of democracy and environmental protection. After graduating Art History, Biljana studied Film Anthropology and Acting. She is the founder and program director of CIRCLE Women Doc Accelerator, a training initiative supporting women-identifying filmmakers. Biljana is Chicken and Egg Pictures and Catapult grantee, alumna of EAVE Producers Workshop and EURODOC, member of the European Women's Audiovisual Network, European Film Academy and an advisory board member of DAE - Documentary Association of Europe. In 2023, she received the inaugural Diane Weyermann Fellowships championing three non-fiction projects worldwide.
Co-Director Petar Glomazic
PETAR GLOMAZIĆ graduated in 1994 from the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, University of Belgrade. In 1996, he completed the Serbian Radio-Television School for documentary and began working as researcher in their Educational Program Department. He has worked for leading regional companies in the aviation industry for more than 20 years. Since 2014, he’s been serving as an associate producer for Wake Up Films, Serbia. Petar is an alumnus of the Balkan Documentary Centre Discoveries. He participated in the FIFDH Impact training program, Movies that Matter Impact lab, pitched in Hot Docs Forum, CPH:DOX Forum, East Doc Platform etc. A passionate life-long mountain climber, Peter has extensively researched traditions, wrote stories, took pictures, and filmed the people and natural landscapes there. Petar is a member of the Documentary Association of Europe (DAE) and a co-founding member of the Save Sinjajevina Association. “The Last Nomads” is his debut feature documentary. In 2023, He received the inaugural Diane Weyermann Fellowships championing three non-fiction projects worldwide.
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