See You in the Obituary
| See You in the Obituary | |
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| Directed by | Janko Baljak |
| Written by | Aleksandar Knežević Vojislav Tufegdžić |
| Based on | The Crime that Changed Serbia (book) |
| Edited by | Jovana Krstanović |
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35 minutes |
| Country | Serbia |
| Language | Serbian |
| Budget | 5 million YUM |
See You in the Obituary (Serbian: Bидимо се у читуљи/Vidimo se u čitulji) is a 1995 made-for-TV 35-minute documentary film, authored by Aleksandar Knežević and Vojislav Tufegdžić (Knežević and Tufegdžić are also the script writers), technical part of the film directed by Janko Baljak, based on the book The Crime that Changed Serbia by Knežević and Tufegdžić and produced by the Belgrade-based independent news broadcaster B92.
The unprecedented contacts and subsequent interviews with the criminals would have not been possible had not Knežević and Tufegdžić been covering the post of organised crime in their respective magazines, gaining the trust of the depicted characters. In more than 90 percent of cases Knežević and Tugedžić, due to the dangerous circumstances that required extreme caution and as small film crew as possible, were accompanied only by a camera operator.
Made in the form of an extended news report and narrated by journalist Dina Čolić-Anđelković, the film presents a snapshot of the chaotic Belgrade criminal underworld in the early 1990s which sprung up against the backdrop of Yugoslav wars. The film is composed of fragments from interviews with individuals directly involved with criminal activities either through perpetrating them or through trying to stop them.
Over the years the film developed a cult following, mainly due to its raw authenticity, characters interviewed, and the portrayal of the politically, economically and socially turbulent period of the early and mid 1990s in Serbia.
As the opening credits roll the film begins with shots of the infamous Milorad Ulemek (then commander of the Serbian police Special Operations Unit who was later convicted for his role in the 2003 assassination of Prime Minister Zoran Đinđić) inspecting troops. Ulemek is not mentioned by name as he was still very much unknown to the Serbian general public at the time.
The narrator Dina Čolić-Anđelković sets the tone by informing the audience that although Serbia was not directly and officially involved in the Yugoslav Wars, the country still very much felt its effects: country is under the United Nations trade embargo, the inflation rate is skyrocketing, streets of Serbian cities are flooded with weapons, and the brain drain is in full swing with young professionals leaving abroad. At the same time many local career criminals plying their trade in Western Europe have returned home to take advantage of the chaotic situation.
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Wikipedia