Guardians of the Formula

  • Dragan Bjelogrlić
  • Serbia, Slovenia, Montenegro, North Macedonia
  • 2023
  • 120'
  • Čuvari formule

*Out of competition

In the midst of a Cold War crisis, a group of young Yugoslav scientists are exposed to a lethal dose of radiation and, accompanied by the secret police, are sent to a Paris clinic for treatment. There they are treated by Professor Mathé, a staunch opponent of nuclear weapons, who proposes a never-performed bone marrow replacement operation as their saving grace. Does Mathé see an opportunity to experiment on living people or does he really want to help? And how exactly were the scientists irradiated? Guardians of the Formula is an exciting historical thriller based on a true story. It premiered at Locarno, winning two awards, the Variety Piazza Grande Award and the Green Leopard. One of the co-writers is Vuk Ršumović, the director of No One’s Child (ZFF 2014 – Audience Award).

Subtitles: EN

Dragan Bjelogrlić

Dragan Bjelogrlić (1963) is a Serbian actor, director and producer. In addition to a successful 40-year acting career, for the last two decades, he devoted himself to film and TV production and direction. He graduated from FDU in Belgrade, earning a large number of notable TV and film roles, including the film Pretty Village, Pretty Flame (1996), which he also produced, as well as the popular TV series Vratiće se rode (2007-2009). His next success came as the director of the feature film and TV series Montevideo, God Bless You!, which became Sebia’s candidate for the Oscar. He is the creator of the first Serbian TV series broadcast on Amazon Prime, Shadows over the Balkans.

Guardians of the Formula

Director
Dragan Bjelogrlić
Screenplay
Vuk Ršumović, Ognjen Sviličić, Dragan Bjelogrlić
Cast
Alexis Manenti, Radivoje Bukvić, Lionel Abelanski, Jérémie Laheurte, Olivier Barthélémy, Ognjen Mićović, Jovan Jovanović, Anne Serra, Alisa Radaković, Jean-Louis Coulloc'h, Cédric Appietto, Miki Manojlović, Dragan Bjelogrlić
DOP
Ivan Kostić
Editing
Milena Predić
Producer
Dragan Bjelogrlić, Aleš Pavlin, Tomi Salkovski, Branislav Milatović, Dragan Šolak
Production
United Media, Perfo Production, Skopje Film Studio, Bitter Frames
Festivals & Awards
Locarno Film Festival – Variety Piazza Grande Award, Pardo Verde Ricola; Sarajevo Film Festival – Audience Award

Related films