ZAGREB: Croatian director Goran Dević is in postproduction with his long documentary New Life / Novi život. This is his 13th film which he is making with producer Hrvoje Osvadić of 15th Art Production. Their most recent film, Pavilion 6 (2024), has been the first Croatian film ever acquired by the BBC.
A building constructed for the workers of the Sisak Ironworks, originally built to commemorate the anniversary of the introduction of self-management, undergoes a radical transformation in its resident structure 70 years later. As part of a European programme, the state relocates refugees from the Middle East into apartments once inhabited by the working class. Most of the newcomers share the fate of their new neighbours’ children and soon leave for Germany. The rhythm of arrivals and even faster departures into a “new life” is interrupted by a devastating earthquake.
“We had already filmed in this same building before (The Building by Goran Dević, 2022), and during that production we developed a close relationship with the residents. While filming, a family from Syria moved into the building, and with them we began shooting a new film, New Life. A few years later, a major earthquake severely damaged the building, making it uninhabitable. All residents had to leave, and the building remained empty for several years. We continued filming on the day the residents received permission from state authorities to enter the building for one week and retrieve their personal belongings before demolition”, producer Hrvoje Osvadić told FNE.
“These were mostly memories and personal items. Some apartments remained untouched because the people who had lived in them had passed away in the meantime. The building then entered the demolition phase, and new people arrived, from Nepal. Croatia is a promised land for them, just as it once was for the workers whose belongings they were throwing into recycling containers seventy years earlier. Whether their new life will be more successful than the socialist utopia once promised to the former residents is the question this film seeks to explore”, Osvadić also said.
Hrvoje Osvadić is producing through Croatia’s Petnaesta umjetnost (15th Art Production), with support from the Croatian Audiovisual Centre, and the City of Sisak.
The total budget is 202,500 EUR.
The film was mostly shot in the summer of 2024 in the city of Sisak, and it is currently in the editing phase. The final part will be filmed in 2026, once the reconstruction of the demolished building is completed.
The plan is to have the completed film ready by the autumn of 2026.
Production Information:
Producer:
Petnaesta umjetnost (15th Art Production) (Croatia)
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Credits:
Director: Goran Dević
Screenwriter: Goran Dević
DoP: Damian Nenadić
Editor: Vanja Siruček
