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Date:
December 15, 2022

CO-PRODUCTION FORUM

Koryo

Koryo

Koryo

by Mladen Kovačević
Horopter | Serbia
Eclectica | Croatia

Live-action feature

Logline

Diana finds her sister’s audio diary from a 1987 family trip to North Korea, which sets off a chase across former Yugoslavia, exposing literal and emotional scars in a haunting blend of drama, historical speculation, documentary and science fiction.

Synopsis

Diana returns to the abandoned family home in Belgrade for her father Jusuf’s funeral and uncovers her sister’s audio diary, recorded during the summer of 1987 in Pyongyang, where Jusuf’s Yugoslav company was building a hospital; and the tensions related to the trip that tore the family apart resurface.

Fixated on unlocking the secrecy surrounding her father, she begins to suspect it revolved around her. She listens to the teenage diary, seeing memories overlay her present reality in double exposure – her father’s boss Miha placing a strange single-ear headphone on her, with a computer terminal counting down – which pulls her into a chase across the former Yugoslavia, searching for Miha and Bong Hwa, their driver from North Korea, who she thinks saw watching her after Jusuf’s funeral.

Reconnecting with Miha’s son Bruno, her childhood crush, Diana learns of their fathers’ company’s research into sensory substitution for the blind that accidentally led to an implant disrupting the biological mechanism behind the chronological perception of time. Diana’s scar, once dismissed as an accident, now suggests she was part of the program. She steals Miha’s old computer and recalibrates the implant, which allows her to relive any moment of her life. North Korean operatives attempt to kidnap her. She comes to terms with Jusuf’s final betrayal, which occurred just before his death. The secrets literally shatter Diana’s reality, yet their discovery gives meaning to everything in her life.

Director’s Profile

Mladen Kovačević is a film director and writer based in Belgrade, Serbia. His latest film Possibility of Paradise (2024) premiered at Venice, at Giornate Degli Autori, while his previous films Unplugged (2013), Wall of Death and All That (2016), 4 Years in 10 Minutes (2018), Merry Christmas, Yiwu (2020), and Another Spring (2022) have been selected at Rotterdam, Karlovy Vary, Visions du Réel, IDFA, Hot Docs, CPH:DOX, FIDMarseille, winning numerous awards, and screening at prestigious venues like the Barbican and the Pompidou. He is currently developing two fiction features Koryo and a Behind the Curtains, Behind the Trees.

Company Profile

Horopter Film Production (Serbia) has established a strong international presence through co-productions with Germany, France, Sweden, Finland, Belgium, Qatar, and Croatia. Its films are supported by major broadcasters and institutions including ARTE, RTBF, Radio Television of Serbia, the Swedish Film Institute, Croatian Audiovisual Centre, Région Île-de-France, Doha Film Institute, Visions Sud Est, and Film Center Serbia.

Horopter’s films have screened at leading international festivals including Visions du Réel, Hot Docs, CPH:DOX, FIDMarseille, IDFA, IFFR, DocLisboa, Ji.hlava, RIDM, Karlovy Vary and Giornate degli Autori – Venice Film Festival, as well as at the Cinémathèque of the Centre Pompidou. The films have received major awards such as FIPRESCI and the Heart of Sarajevo. The company’s titles include Unplugged (2013), Wall of Death, and All That (2016), 4 Years in 10 Minutes (2018), Merry Christmas, Yiwu (2020), Another Spring (2022), and Possibility of Paradise (2024).