Croatia

28′10″, 2022.

DIRECTED BY

Ljiljana Mandić

PRODUCED BY

HRT, Tihomir Štivičić, program editor Aleksej Pavlovsky

SCRIPTWRITER

Ljiljana Mandić, Aleksej Pavlovsky

CINEMATOGRAPHER

Tomislav Trumbetaš, Dražen Lipka

EDITED BY

Damir Đurčević

   In the parishes of Radobilje, Žeževica and Zagvozd in the Dalmatian hinterland near Omiš and Makarska, there is still a live custom of ringing the church bells for the souls of the dead in the eve of All Saints’ Day which is followed by All Souls’ Day. The bell has to be rung by one handstroke, so that the clapper hits only one side of the bell and that has to continue all night long, until the morning Mass because, according to the custom, the bell ringing must not be stopped. It is an act of remembrance of the deceased and a prayer for them, but also a practice of social gathering and community building. The atmosphere is meditative, with several, quite profane moments.

Ljiljana Mandić was born in Bjelovar. She graduated from the Zagreb Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences in 1985, and in 1986 she began her career at the Croatian Television – then Television Zagreb – as a director’s assistant in the Education and Documentary Desk. Since 1992, she has worked as director, and during the past twenty years she has made about 120 films.