previously published on Cineuropa
Children tend to see their parents as heroes, no matter how flawed the latter are in reality. On the other hand, parents have a harder time grappling with the harsh realities of life because, unlike their kids, they cannot simply escape to an imaginary world of their own creation. These two topics are central to David Jovanović’s debut feature, Sun Never Again, which has just premiered in Tallinn Black Nights’ First Feature Competition.
Our hero, Dule (newcomer Rastko Racić), views his father, Vid (Dušan Jović), as a hero who cannot do anything wrong, which may seem far from the truth because Vid is a stubborn man who struggles to accept the facts of life – such as the fact that their village, located in close proximity to a mine, is choking because of the pollution caused by its expansion. Furthermore, their neighbours are selling their houses and compounds. When an influential neighbour who works abroad, Rađo (the late Radovan Miljanić), comes to negotiate a deal for the house with Vid on behalf of the mine management company, Vid is quick to decline the offer, although his wife and Dule’s mother, Ada (Nataša Marković), is willing to accept it for the sake of the family’s health.
But Dule strongly believes in his father’s new project – a greenhouse in their yard – so he is willing to become its “protector”, either by coming up with some practical solution or by striking a deal with God himself (embodied by the legendary Svetozar Cvetković in a one-scene cameo). Vid sees it as a form of motivation to continue fighting against the corporate Goliath, his own surroundings and even his common sense, which he kept drowning in alcohol. However, being right does not entail actually being able to win…
The story of Sun Never Again is one of unlikely success, fuelled by the filmmaker’s resilience. He managed to collect modest funds in order to realise the demanding project through crowd-funding campaigns, and by motivating the cast and crew to give it their all for his vision. It is not Jovanović’s first time doing so: as a producer, he also made Nina Ognjanović’s 2023 Slamdance-premiering Where the Road Leads [+] (with which Sun Never Again shares the majority of its cast) come to fruition in similar working conditions. This time, the question of mining might resonate powerfully with domestic crowds, given that the protests against lithium mining are the staple diet of daily news outlets in Serbia, while its universal topic and artistic approach might seem suitable for international festival bookings in future.
Drawing inspiration from his own childhood and summers spent in a Bosnian mining village, as well as from David Lynch’s version of “The Ballad of Hollis Brown” (from his 2013 album The Big Dream), Jovanović crafts a film that unites the realist Yugoslav Black Wave with magical realism in an extremely potent way. The locations in the village of Krivelj in Eastern Serbia, where mines do actually exist next to the settlements, are shot perfectly in hand-held fashion and with dim lighting by Mladen Teofilović. The cast of lesser-known actors and extras hailing from the ranks of the locals blend well into the landscape, while the abstract music by Nemanja Mosurović and the striking sound design by Antonio Andrić also complement the visual aspect. Edited with good measure by the filmmaker himself, Branislava Stefanović and Mina Petrović, Sun Never Again leaves the impression of a contemporary symphonic poem.
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