Disobedient, The

As children, Leni and Lazar were best friends. They lived in a world of their own, with its rituals. Then Lazar left, and returned as a grown man. Leni now works as a pharmacist; she has brief affairs and doesn't know what to do with her life. Perhaps a little shared misbehaviour to break with convention will help the pair to bridge their years of separation. With no particular aim, and no rules, they take off on their bikes together, travelling through the sun-baked countryside to the sound of Serbian hits from long ago. They lark about, argue, make some mischief but, most of all, create confusion between themselves which not even the perceptive narrator can fathom during his regular interventions in the story. Director and producer Mina Đukić́'s feature film debut offers an impressionistic view of a relationship which, rather than words, is more about gestures and the shared experience of escaping the provincial tedium. The rebellious playfulness is supported by unusually sharp cuts, an imaginative narrative and incisive lensing. (Karlovy Vary International Film Festival)