Bilo jednom... (Once Upon a Time) is a 2006 rockumentary by Serbian filmmaker Jovan Đerić. Premiere screening, in over-crowded Arena cinema[1], was followed by act of punk-rock bands Mitesers and Generacija bez budućnosti. Topic of the film is punk-rock scene of Serbian second largest city, Novi Sad, from the first half of 1990s. People who made up this scene talk from 15-year perspective about reasons of the fall in interest for this kind of music, widely popular in Serbia during reign of Slobodan Milosevic. As many of interviewees state, a common enemy (Milosevic and his regime) was a good enemy to oppose with their music. When this enemy disappeared, whole movement lost its' edge.
| Bilo jednom... | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Directed by | Jovan Đerić |
| Written by | Jovan Đerić/ Minja Dunđerski |
| Produced by | Jovan Đerić |
| Starring | Dr. Pop, Boban, Kebra, Robert, Relja, Vijetnamac, Marta, Medan, Ilija, Buži, Gagi, Sava Savić, Lošmi, Šima, Ćela, Nemanja, Dules, Jens, Erić, Zgro, Goldi, Glava, Brle, Mirdža |
| Cinematography | Lučian Muntean |
| Edited by | Zoran Nikolić |
| Music by | Various bands |
| Distributed by | Produkcija i27! |
Release dates |  October 27, 2006 |
Running time | 43 min |
| Language | Serbian |
Almost all most important bands from the period are represented by their frontmans and/or other members, Dr. Pop (Atheist Rap), Boban (Ritam nereda), Kebra (Obojeni program), Robert and Relja (Generacija bez budućnosti - GBB), Vijetnamac and Marta (Zbogom Brus Li), Medan (Love Hunters), Ilija (Mitesers), Buži, Gagi, Sava Savić, Lošmi, Šima, Ćela, Nemanja, Dules, Jens, Erić, Zgro, Goldi, Glava, Brle, Mirdža. During the movie, authors used music videos by Generacija bez budućnosti, Obojeni program, Ritam nereda, Atheist Rap, Zbogom Brus Li, Vrisak generacije, Boye, Love Hunters, DMT and Ska ringišpil.
Film was part of "Made in Vojvodina" program of 2007 Motovun Film Festival[2], presenting cinematography of Vojvodina, and also as part of four-day event - "Enter UK" - about cultural influence of British sub-culture in Serbia), held in Novi Sad during EXIT festival 2007 [3].
Background/Production
The idea for the film caught author some months after he saw "Sretno dijete", musical documentary about trends in Yugoslavian urban sub-culture from the beginning of 80s. In December 2004 Đerić approached Minja Dunđerski, a prominent rock'band manager and gig-organizer, with the idea to make film, and so the story starts. Dunđerski was credited as a co-writer, and also was consultant and connection to most of the characters appearing in the film, as well as contributor of most of the archive materials. Filming started on July 3rd 2006 on Belgrade promotion of book "Novosadska punk verzija", continued during EXIT festival, and after pause continued from the end of August through to mid-September 2006.
Film was shoot with Panasonic AG-DVX100 camcorder, while archive footage was down-converted from Betacam tapes. Most of the interviews were shoot in progressive scan, just to be converted to interlaced, due to archive materials that were all interlaced.
