In the midst of the Cold War crisis in October 1958, a group of scientists at the Vinča Nuclear Institute implemented a secret project led by professor Dragoslav Popović. Due to unforeseen circumstances, they are exposed to a lethal dose of radiation and are taken by the Yugoslav secret police to the Curie clinic in Paris for treatment.
The French medical team led by professor Georges Mathé concludes that their condition is critical and that their days are numbered. Although Mathé has dedicated his whole life to fighting against the possession of nuclear weapons and deeply despises the project which the Yugoslav scientists worked on, he proposes to carry out, for the first time in history, the delicate and uncertain intervention of replacing the bone marrow of irradiated patients.[3]
Filming lasted for about a year at authentic locations in Serbia, Slovenia and France in the period between 2022 and 2023.[5][6][7]
Release
The world premiere of the film was held on August 4, 2023 at the Locarno Film Festival in Switzerland as part of the prestigious Piazza Grande program,[8][9][10] where it won two awards: the Variety Award for best film in the selection Piazza Grande and the Green Leopard Award given to films with the most compelling message.[11] On August 15, 2023, the film was screened out of competition as part of the main program of the 29th Sarajevo Film Festival, while the premiere in Serbia was held on October 24, 2023.[12][13][14][15][16]
The film has been seen by 100,000 viewers in Serbian cinemas as of November 9th, 2023.[17]
