In 1972, Ibrahim Hoti undertook the Hajj, travelling to Mecca on a spiritual pilgrimage. On the return journey, his bus made an unscheduled stop at the bustling Baghdad bazaar, where he bought gifts for his family. Within a day of his return to Kosovo, Hoti began to feel feverish. A fever then became a rash.
Composed entirely of archival footage, and narrated by the burnt-in-memory clarity of Dr Zoran Radovanović, filmmaker Mladen Kovačević’s piercing documentary recounts the harrowing days of the Yugoslavian smallpox outbreak from start to finish. It is a meticulously composed mosaic memory of the re-emergence of one the deadliest infectious diseases in human history.
Interwoven with a simmering, atmospheric score by sound designer Jakov Munižaba, with archival footage that is slowed, pausing on moments that provide texture and personify both Radovanović’s memory and the spread of the disease itself, the film takes on elements of mystery, horror and thriller genres, anchored in impactful realism. While Kovačević remains rooted in Radovanović’s concise recollection, the film echoes in resounding contrast to the 2020 pandemic, creating a dynamic, parallel perspective of the present day against the achievements in unity of the past.
– Fiona Armour
Trailer
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Film details
- Countries of production
- Qatar, Serbia
- Year
- 2022
- Festival edition
- IFFR 2023
- Length
- 89"
- Medium/Format
- DCP
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