Directed by:
Goran PaskaljevicCinematography:
Milan SpasicCast:
Lazar Ristovski, Bojana Novakovic, Mira Banjac, Nebojsa Glogovac, Nebojsa Milovanovic, Slavko Stimac, Dragan Jovanovic, Boro Stjepanovic, Dušan Janićijević (more)Plots(1)
These five stories set in contemporary Serbia reflect the atmosphere much more than the reality of the post-Milošević era – a mix of hope and lost illusions, truth and lies, fiction and real events. Thus it isn't easy to tell just who is offering selfless assistance, as in the first story, and who, on the other hand, is fishing around in the murky waters of their family's and friends' misery, as in the case of the last tale. Each one is a fragment of a mosaic, pieced together by the character of the actor Lazar Ristovski, playing five different roles, and reliably secured with an unswerving angle of vision. The director was inspired by a definition of optimism that Voltaire expressed through his Candide, namely "the mania for insisting that all is well when all is by no means well". In the spirit of this premise, the filmmakers – Goran and Vladimir Paskaljević (father and son) – moulded their human figures with comic hyperbole and a good dose of black humour. The Optimists will make the audience laugh as well as cry, because that's the way life is. (Karlovy Vary International Film Festival)
(more)Cast
Lazar Ristovski
Yugoslavia
Best movies:
Underground (1995)
Casino Royale (2006)
Dobro ustimani mrtvaci (2005)
Bojana Novakovic
Yugoslavia
Best movies:
Seven Pounds (2008)
The Little Death (2014)
I, Tonya (2017)
Mira Banjac
Yugoslavia
Best movies:
So Hot Was the Cannon (2014)
Pretty Village, Pretty Flame (1996)
Balkan Spy (1984)
Nebojsa Glogovac
Yugoslavia
Best movies:
Cabaret Balkan (1998)
The Constitution (2016)
Enclave (2015)
Nebojsa Milovanovic
Yugoslavia
Best movies:
Cabaret Balkan (1998)
The Cordon (2002)
Lajanje na zvezde (1998)
Slavko Stimac
Yugoslavia
Best movies:
Who's Singin' Over There? (1980)
So Hot Was the Cannon (2014)
Underground (1995)
Dragan Jovanovic
Yugoslavia
Best movies:
The Professional (2003)
Cabaret Balkan (1998)
The Black Bomber (1992)
Boro Stjepanovic
Yugoslavia
Best movies:
Do You Remember Dolly Bell? (1981)
The Bridge at the End of the World (2014)
All for Free (2006)
Dušan Janićijević
Yugoslavia
Best movies:
Boško Buha (1978)
Time of Miracles (1989)
The Dog Who Loved Trains (1977)
Viktor Savić
Yugoslavia
Best movies:
Black Sun (2017) (series)
See You in Montevideo (2014)
Montevideo: Taste of a Dream (2010)
Miodrag Krstovic
Yugoslavia
Best movies:
The Professional (2003)
The Good Pope John XXIII (2003) (TV movie)
The Beauty of Vice (1986)
Danica Ristovski
Yugoslavia
Best movies:
My Beautiful Country (2012)
Honeymoons (2009)
Train Driver's Diary (2016)
Bora Nenic
Yugoslavia
Best movies:
My Beautiful Country (2012)
No One's Child (2014)
Honeymoons (2009)
Radivoj Knezevic
Best movies:
Solemn Promise (2009)
Devil's Town (2009)
Lost and Found (2005)
Lidija Stevanović
Yugoslavia
Best movies:
Life Is Beautiful (1985)
Withering (2013)
The Optimists (2006)
Aleksandra Pleskonjic-Ilic
Yugoslavia
Best movies:
Vukovar, jedna priča (1994)
The Meeting Point (1989)
The Optimists (2006)
Branko Vidakovic
Yugoslavia
Best movies:
Pretty Village, Pretty Flame (1996)
Seven and a Half (2006)
We Are Not Angels (1992)
Ratko Miletic
Best movies:
L'Ange gardien (1987)
The Elusive Summer of '68 (1984)
Boško Buha (1978)
Kalina Kovačevic
Yugoslavia
Best movies:
The Optimists (2006)