Scriptwriter
Born:
21.06.1991, Novi Sad (Serbia)
Education:
MA in multimedia Directing, Academy of Arts, University in Novi Sad
Place of Residence:
Novi Sad (Serbia)
Biography
Strahinja Mlađenović was born in 1991 in Novi Sad. In 2010 he enrolled at the Academy of Arts in Novi Sad, Department of multimedia directing. During his studies at the academy, he directed two radio dramas, four short films, a documentary short film and three full-lenght theater performances. As a final project on master studies he directed a feature film SHE IS ALIVE.
Sample of previous work
Projects in development
SRCE PRIČE / THE HEART OF THE STORY
feature film
developed script
Life is an adventure, literature is a map.
Attached to the project: co-writer, director, producer
Looking for: co-producer
Keywords: story, heart, book, writer, blind, literature, mountain, translator, drama, romance, fantasy
ČUVAR KNJIGA / THE GUARDIAN OF THE BOOKS
short fiction
first draft of the script
Life can’t fit into a book.
Attached to the project: director
Looking for: producer
Keywords: writer, book, blind, Borges, seaside, drama, romance, fantasy
Filmography and Awards
2016 SHE IS ALIVE, feature film, writer/director
2016 AGREEMENT, feature film directed by Predrag Radonjić, assistant director
2014 SERBIAN ORTHODOX SEMINARY IN PRIZREN: SOUNDS, documentary, writer/director
2013 DIRECTOR’S CUT, short, writer/director
2012 FATHER, short, writer/director
2011 WEAK HEART, short, writer/director
2010 NO WAY OUT, short, writer/director
My five favourite films
-
Breaking the Waves (1996)by Lars von Trier
-
Paterson (2016)by Jim Jarmusch
-
Betty Blue (1986)by Jean-Jacques Beineix
-
The Science of Sleep (2006)by Michel Gondry
-
Stalker (1979)by Andrei Tarkovsky
Favourite scene I wrote
EXT. ANDREJ’S APARTMENT – DAY
Marija is washing dishes in the kitchen.
Andrej embraces her from behind and gives her a kiss on the cheek.
ANDREJ
Thanks, mom. Lunch was perfect.
Marija tries to give him a smile but doesn’t succeed.
ANDREJ
What’s wrong?
MARIJA
Andrej, she is blind. Just like your–
ANDREJ
Don’t worry. She can see better than all
of us.
ANDREJ’S ROOM
MOJCA’S POV
She’s approaching the thin vertical line of strong sunlight between curtains.
BACK TO THE SCENE
Mojca grabs one part of the curtain and starts to pull it apart when she hears the sound of a door opening behind her.
ANDREJ (OFF)
Don’t!
Mojca startles.
ANDREJ
Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you. Those
curtains are not meant to be pulled apart.
I’ll turn on the light if you wish.
MOJCA
No. I want sunlight.
She raises her arm again to open the curtains, but Andrej stops her. 1
ANDREJ
Please, don’t.
MOJCA
Why?
ANDREJ
Grandfather never allowed the curtains
to be opened. Sunlight causes books to
fade.
MOJCA
Books can never fade out. Only paper
fades.
ANDREJ
No, really, there is a large number of
books here that now probably cost a
fortune–
Mojca starts pulling the curtains and gold sun rays start breaking through, illuminating Andrej’s face.
MOJCA’S POV
Sun rays produce strong contra light which brings forth a bright contour of Andrej’s silhouette.
BACK TO THE SCENE
Her lips stretch into a smile and her eyes settle down like she can really see him. She starts caressing his face.
MOJCA
How are we gonna be together if you need
darkness and I can’t live without light?
Andrej turns around and gazes across the room illuminated with bright sunlight.
At the chair beside the bed, he can see himself as a five-year-old, reading a book.
ANDREJ
The book depicted in the novel, the one
that my grandfather gave me, relly exists.
He approaches the five-year-old Andrej, and the child readily hands him the book in saffiano leather.
Andrej gives it to Mojca.
ANDREJ
Maybe it’s not magical, but I’ll never
forget the day I read to him the passage
with the description of that forest.
Now Andrej can also see his blind Grandfather lying in bed, and Emily Dickinson making his sheets.
EMILI DICKINSON
’There is another sky,
Ever serene and fair,
And there is another sunshine,
Though it be darkness there;
Never mind faded forests, Austin,
Never mind silent fields…’
Andrej observes himself as a five-year-old, who is approaching Grandfather’s bed with great interest.
ANDREJ
When I was finished reading, I saw an
apple in grandfather’s lap.
INSERT – THE APPLE
Child’s hand fearfully touches the big read apple, emphasized on white sheets.
EMILY DICKINSON (OFF)
’Here is a little forest,
Whose leaf is ever green;
Here is a brighter garden,
Where not a frost has been;
In its unfading flowers…’
BACK TO THE SCENE
Five-year-old Andrej takes up the apple and gazes at her with delight.
ANDREJ (OFF)
It was winter and the apple could come
only from the story.
Andrej is looking at the bed – Grandfather, Emily Dickinson and himself as a five-year-old are gone.
ANDREJ
Every child of my age then would believe
that one could really live inside stories.
MOJCA
You don’t still believe in that, of course?
ANDREJ
I don’t know what to believe in anymore.
Only thing I know is that after
grandfather’s death I started writing in
order to find that forest again. And i
never found it.
MOJCA
Andrej, those are just words on paper.
INSERT – THE BOOK
In Mojca’s hands is an old cabbaged notebook instead of the saffiano leather book.
BACK TO THE SCENE
She puts the notebook on the windowsill.
ANDREJ
You’re right. It seems that words have
lost all the meaning long time ago.
MOJCA
I didn’t say that.
ANDREJ
Tell me at least one word that still means
something.
Mojca gently touches his face.
MOJCA
Eyes.
She leans towards him and draws her lips near his eyes. Andrej automatically closes his eyes and Mojca puts gentle kisses on his eyelids.
MOJCA
Nose.
She puts a kiss on his nose.
MOJCA
Lips.
She presses her lips on Andrej’s, which open up with desire and let her tongue in.
After the kiss Andrej opens his eyes and sees a smile on Mojca’s face.
MOJCA
It’s time for you to go out and find your
forest.
LIVING ROOM
Marija is leaned against the door, listening.
Andrej suddenly opens the door with the notebook in his hands and Marija startles, almost losing her balance.
ANDREJ
You’ve been eavesdropping?
She looks worried.
MARIJA
You’ll be careful?
Andrej gives her a smile.
ANDREJ
I will, don’t worry. Bring me my jacket,
please.
When Marija leaves the room Andrej grabs one of the chair pillows and hides it at the back of his trousers.
Marija returns and gives him the jacket which he puts on in a
hurry.
ANDREJ
Wait for her to fall asleep, then close
the curtains.
Marija nods and he leaves the apartment.
My favourite film quote
“Dr. Richardson: And what’s your talent then, Bess? Because, um, surely it can’t be being screwed by men you’ve never seen before.
Bess: I can believe.”
–
Breaking the Waves (1996)
