Young Marko’s world is falling apart. Amidst Macedonia’s tumultuous transition, alcohol and gambling poison his life at home. School is equally unbearable, because of ruthless bullies. When a teacher encourages him to enter a poetry competition, he dreams of escape; the winner of the contest for the best poem in praise of Macedonia will receive a trip to Paris. Yet circumstances only get worse, and Marko can no longer find refuge in his dream. When he befriends a soldier of fortune he learns new lessons, including how to shoot a gun. He is taught that he must “eat or be eaten”, and seeks justice for the betrayals he’s endured by taking matters into his own hands.

Macedonia’s newest cinematic voice, Svetozar Ristovksi, delivers a bold and powerful denunciation of a society that misleads it children with false hopes. The film begins with a quote from Nietzsche, “Hope is the worst of evils, for it prolongs the torment of man”, setting the stage for a dark tale about moving beyond hope. Every frame of this provocative fiction feature debut is a call to action: a call to wake up to reality, however devastating it is, and make every effort possible to change things.

SVETOZAR RISTOVSKI Macedonian director Svetozar Ristovski was born in Veles and studied architecture and dramatic arts at the University of St. Kiril and Metodi in Skopje. His filmography includes the short documentary Second Class Passengers (1999), the feature-length documentary Joy of Life (2001) and the short fiction film Hunter (2000). Mirage is his feature directorial debut.

Director:  Svetozar Ristovski

Cinematography:  Vladimir Samoilovski

Screenplay:  Grace Lea Troje , Svetozar Ristovski

Producer:  Svetozar Ristovski

Music:  Klaus Hundsbichler

Cast:  Mustafa Nadarevic , Vlado Jovanovski , Nikola Djuricko , Dejan Acimovic , Marko Kovacevic

Production:  Small Movies