BIO
Natalija Avramovid was born in 1983 in Kruševac. She graduated from the Academy of Arts, Department for Film and Television Directing. She is employed full-time at the National Institution “Filmske Novosti” – the Film Archives of Serbia, as a director, screenplay writer and editor of over 15 feature-length and short documentaries. Her documentary “Ljuba” won her the first prize of “Zlatna buklija”; with the same film, she competed in the competitors’ programme at the Belgrade Festival of Documentary and Short Film / March Festival. She was selected at the state competition for inancing and co-financing cinematographic projects, in the category of project development, in 2014 and in the category for improvement and development of film scenarios in 2013, for the film “Otkride života” (Discovery of Life).
PROJECT SPRING SONG
PETRA is a young, single mother of an eight-year old boy, director working in Filmske Novosti, trying to get her life back on track and provide a happy childhood for her son, following her divorce. At the same time, Petra is renovating her apartment and working on a documentary about a Serbian poetess.
Petra’s father dies suddenly, almost before her eyes, from a severe illness. This launches internal processes inside the main protagonist, which she herself is unaware of at first. After the initial shock, Petra tries to go back to her normal life, to working on the documentary. She is preparing for a long-awaited wedding of her best friend, now living in South Africa, who is organizing a big wedding in Greece, to gather all their childhood friends from their home town. Petra’s mother and brother are opposed to her going to the wedding while she is in mourning, but, rebellious as she is, Petra decides to go.
In the meanwhile, she meets VUK, a colleague from work. He awakens certain romantic feelings, which Petra tries to define and deal with the passion which sparks between them.
In Greece, Petra goes through different emotional and sexual encounters, which get her in touch with her own estrangement, which brings her even closer to Vuk. After a crazy wedding, Petra decides to stay another day in Thessaloniki with her friend. The city, the night out and leaving the routine of her life all lead Petra on a downward introspective spiral, in which she has to face the pain of her father’s loss that she’s been trying to escape. That morning, on the Thessaloniki bus station, as her hung-over friend is asleep in a massage chair, Petra observes the monks embarking on a bus to Atos. She tries to communicate with them, as they walk by her with understanding, but silent. At that moment, a butterfly that has been following her throughout the film lands on her hand, leading Petra to a sort of catharsis, where she says goodbye to her father and releases her pain, together with the butterfly that flies away.
After returning to Belgrade, Petra realizes what she’s been missing, completes her film about the poetess, she is finally ready to open up and spread her wings, free of guilt.
“Spring Song” is a portrait of a woman, whose story is based on real-life events.
