Kenedi goes back Home

Synopsis

This is a story of Yugoslavs who left the country in war and spent over ten years in Western Europe as refugees or in asylum. In the second half of the year 2002, European Union sent many of these people back to Serbia and Montenegro together with their families, believing that there were no more reasons for their stay. Procedures for their return were usually very strict. Families would be gathered during the night, transported to the airport and sent to Belgrade on the first flight. To make things more dramatic, the majority of children born in some of these Western European countries speak and write the other language better than their mother tongue. As they sold everything they owned when they left the country, they are facing a situation where normal life is practically impossible.

Director Biography

Born in 1942, based in Novi Sad, Serbia, his socially engaged films and documentaries in former Yugoslavia earned him critical accolades in the late 60s (“The Unemployed” 1968, Best Documentary at the Oberhausen festival, 1968; “Early Works”1969, Best Film at Berlin Film Festival), but also censorship in the 70s for his unflinching criticism of the government apparatus.
Low budget filmmaking and challenging political themes mark Žilnik’s prolific career that includes over 50 feature and documentary films and shorts. His power to observe and unleash compelling narratives out of the lives of ordinary people is the common thread throughout his documentary and docudrama work. More recently, his focus has shifted beyond the divided Balkans to question its relationship with the tightening controls of European borders, delving into the heart of issues of refugees and migrants.