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France’s Tripode Boards Surreal Serbian Drama ‘Uptight Ass’ (EXCLUSIVE)
Fresh off the world premiere of Cannes Camera d’Or winner César Díaz’s “Mexico 86” in Locarno’s Piazza Grande, France’s Tripode Productions has joined as a co-producer for the upcoming feature “Uptight Ass,” from writer-director Matija Gluščević and co-writer Dušan Zorić. The duo’s previous collaboration, “Have You Seen This Woman?,” played at Venice Critics’ Week in 2022.
The film, which will be showcased at the Sarajevo Film Festival’s CineLink Co-Production Market, centers on a self-centered and emotionally closed-off middle-aged teacher. Faced with his father’s illness, he embarks on a journey to rediscover the love and vulnerability he has buried deep within.
“Uptight Ass” is produced by Čarna Vučinić for Naked, the Belgrade-based production company she co-founded with Gluščević and Zorić. It is co-produced by Tripode’s Guillaume Dreyfus and Tena Gojić of the Croatian outfit Dinaridi Film.
In his director’s note, Gluščević described the film as a deeply personal story and an examination of his relationship with his family. “A feeling of anxiety haunts me whenever I visit my hometown. Despite my increasing need to prove my love to my parents, I find myself becoming more withdrawn and angry with them. Even after my dad became ill, I failed to properly articulate my feelings,” he wrote.
Continuing, he said, “With ‘Uptight Ass,’ I seek to explore one’s masculinity and identity through family relations, the father/son relationship, and the role of ‘the head of the family’ that [the teacher] Savo is expected to assume.”
The film continues Gluščević’s exploration of gender roles and societal expectations, both in Serbian society and globally. “Have You Seen This Woman?” is an unconventional triptych that follows three different life possibilities for a middle-aged woman trapped in roles imposed by a patriarchal society.
Speaking ahead of its Venice premiere, Gluščević and Zorić mentioned that they aimed to depict the stories of middle-aged women who are “rarely portrayed in cinema,” often serving as supporting characters “at the service of others.” They said this was “a reflection of the society we are living in.”
Vučinić, producer for Belgrade-based Non-Aligned Films, agreed, noting that it was “something we didn’t have in Serbian cinematography before.”
“[Gluščević and Zorić] really like to experiment with narration and form,” she said. “They’re always pushing one step forward, thinking outside the box about how a character can be super-authentic but in a non-clichéd way. They’re really into portraying people who are invisible in our society.”
Guillaume Dreyfus, who co-founded Tripode Productions with Delphine Schmit in 2019, praised Gluščević as “a very singular voice and a super promising director from Serbia.”
“His first feature, ‘Have You Seen This Woman?,’ is catchy, clever, and tackles important issues that go beyond the Balkans,” Dreyfus said. “His upcoming film ‘Uptight Ass’ is political, sentimental, and provocative, which are qualities that we value a lot. We look forward to working with him and his producer Čarna Vučinić.”
Tena Gojić of Dinaridi added, “Working with Matija on the debut ‘Have You Seen This Woman?’ was excellent on both a professional and personal level. I’m very excited to develop his new project, which is sure to impact the cinematography of our region and beyond once again.”
“Matija is a bold director who is always ready to push boundaries in order to achieve innovative cinematic language,” she added. “He has a dedicated and trustworthy crew around him, and Čarna is a producer I love working with because she has a sharp instinct for films with the X factor.”
Gluščević, having written the script over a five-year period while financing his debut, described “Uptight Ass” as “formally, narratively and visually eclectic, enriched with camp style.” The film will use “unusual camera angles and positions” and “exaggerated sexualization of masculinity in depictions of some characters” to heighten its surreal tone. Vučinić described it as a drama-thriller with elements of surrealism where “you don’t really know the difference whether something is real or in the imagination of the protagonist.”
Former film school classmates, Vučinić, Gluščević, and Zorić launched Naked to develop their own projects and work with filmmakers from across Southeast Europe. Vučinić noted, “There are plenty of amazing voices coming from the region.”
Praising her two co-founders, she added, “They’re very particular directors with unique taste. It might sound simplistic, but I’ve never worked with anyone before with such a strong vision. They think outside of the usual conventions and filmmaking tendencies.”
The Sarajevo Film Festival runs from Aug. 16 to 23.
Source: Various
