The jury has chosen a film that is extraordinary in many respects, a great model for future generations of Slovenian documentaries, the Serbian-Slovenian coproduction “Stekleničarji” (Flašaroši/Bottlemen) by the director Nemanja Vojinović.
This remarkable documentary takes the viewer into a world that is usually inaccessible and unknown. Filmed over many years, it gives an intimate insight into the small community that, not by choice but by simple necessity, struggles to survive and makes a living in harsh conditions by collecting plastic bottles on the apocalyptic landscape of the vast smelling and smoking garbage dump near Belgrade (Serbia).
The viewer is not only amazed by the harsh working conditions of the main characters but also by the work of the camera team that follows them closely both in the heat of the summer and in the cold and muddy conditions in wintertime.
An interesting and emotional story with colorful and inviting characters, exceptional photography, apocalyptic scenography, epic shots, a message, etc. If we ask ourselves when watching a documentary how it was possible to shoot something in such a way, we simply know that we are dealing with something special and unique. The right mixture of political commentary, bizarre Balkan humor, and the tragedy of the current consumer society, all packed into an attractive, sometimes almost surreal narrative, is not only a good guide for younger and less experienced documentary makers on how to make a good documentary film but also a product that will undoubtedly have a prominent place in the annals of contemporary European documentary film.
The film was co-produced, supported by the production company URGH! and RTV Slovenia in a public tender for the production of cinematographic works. Just today (Monday, September 23) the film Stekleničarji is starting to be shown in the Art cinema network of Slovenia - first it will be shown only in Ljubljana's Kinodvor, from October also in various places in Slovenia - Domžale, Radovljica, Sežana, Novemest, Celje and probably somewhere else . At the end of October, the film will be shown in the competition program of the Slovenian Film Festival.