Young Macedonian director Marija Džidževa first hit it big in her home country with the documentary The List of Toni Mandža (2004), about a young man from a small town who escapes prisons and goes on a killing spree with a hit list in his pocket. The film was said to be the first ever Macedonian documentary to have pirated copies sold throughout the country. She recently completed her part in the ex-Yugoslavian collaborative project Some Other Stories. She talked to Southeast Europe: People and Culture about her recent and current projects.

Your latest project, the film Some Other Stories, involved several female directors from the neighbouring countries. What did it entail?

It was a project that began back in 2005 with the aim of re-animating the common cultural space of the former Yugoslav republics. The project gathered five young female directors from the ex-Yugoslavian republics. The theme revolves around issues such as motherhood, pregnancy, etc. The central point is that when the wars in the former Yugoslavia with all the bloodshed and killing started, no one asked women how they felt, nor were they a factor in decision-making. After some time, some new young women, in these new countries, can decide about creating new life. We have worked on the project for a long time.

How did the production process work out?

The project gathered several producers, such as Nenad Dukić (Serbia), Dunja Klemenc (Slovenia), who won an Oscar for co-producing No Man’s Land, Anita Juka (Croatia), Alem Babić (Bosnia), and Tomi Salkovski (Macedonia) with Skopje Film Studio. So there were five producers. We asked for support from the national film funds of course. There was an additional producer from Ireland, Ian Davis. Worth mentioning, we also managed to obtain support from Eurimages for the project. Once it was arranged we all started filming simultaneously. Each author worked independently, with her own team and cast of actors. The directors were Ana-Marija Rosi (Serbia), Hana Slak (Slovenia), Ines Tanović (Bosnia), Ivona Juka (Croatia), and myself from Macedonia. The sound production and the post-production were done in Ireland. Brian Crosby composed some of the music for the stories. After the opening last year in Taormina, the film has been shown at some 40 festivals. It won some 4-5 awards, and everywhere it went it received a lot of interest.

It is a fresh film. Usually people still, when they hear about the former Yugoslavia, they expect something about wars, whereas these are simple stories about regular people. Each story describes its own country, with stories about young people, their dilemmas in life, struggles, etc.

What is your story about?

It is a scenario by Gjorce Stavrevski, with the working title of Switch. It is about switching babies. A young 24-year old woman, social reject, ex-drug user, is pregnant. She has a risky pregnancy and doctors convince her to give the baby up for adoption. She agrees to but then decides against this. Then there is a twist. She sees a politician’s wife who is also giving birth and she switches the babies. The rich woman’s child goes for adoption. Her motives are about revenge and justice. She wanted to know where her baby would be. There is also the moment in the end when she has hepatitis and it is not sure if she will live long enough to see her baby grow up. It deals with marginalisation, inequality, double morals, etc.

You first became known for your documentary work, The List of Toni Mandža.

Yes, it is from 2004. It is based on a true story from my home town, Gevgelija. The story had a strong echo nationwide in 1998. Back then it was really something shocking. A young man escaped from a state prison and went on a killing spree in Gevgelija. He had a hit list of people he wanted dead. He killed two people before he got arrested after a police pursuit which took all night. He was a minor. I was personally intrigued by the story. My hometown was considered a really safe place. The idea I started with was that each young person has his or her own personal intimate list of injustices they have suffered, and I wanted to look into his. I researched it for a few years, and it turned into a film that indeed caused a lot of attention when it was released in 2004.

Did you film in the prison?

Yes, the interviews with Toni Mandža were done in prison.

Why did you choose to do this story in particular?

I think I am keen on doing films based on front page stories. This was a front page story, same as the next documentary I did, See Life through My Eyes, which was inspired by a front page story about a dumpsite of medical waste, including synthetic drugs, near a children’s playground in a village outside Skopje.      

What is your next project?

I’m working on a documentary called I am Looking for a Bride. It is another front page story from the newspapers. Soon we plan to go and film in Russia.

What is the story about?

It is inspired by the effects of the demographic crisis. Women leave the villages and there are some villages in Macedonia where only men have remained. There are no marriages, no children. So some local community leaders came up with an idea to actually bring in women for marriage from Russia. Some meetings were organised with the help of a Macedonian-Russian association. Men from this village met with women from Russia, and then they stayed in touch by email, etc. A few marriages have already taken place so I am following the story. Next, in the autumn a group of some 15-20 bachelors from this village will go to Russia and stay there for a week. So I will also go, film the whole process, the bus trip, and all the matchmaking meetings.  I hope to interview people about their expectations. I will also monitor the follow-up. The completion of the film also depends on how the story evolves.


**The European Commission does not accept or recognise in whatever form or content a denomination other than “the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia.” All references, direct or indirect, to this country used in this article are those of its author.