Tilva Ros

You might call Marko and Stefan Serbian “Jackasses.” Round and round the skate park they go, trying to come up with new stupid stunts. But their antics impress neither each other nor their girlfriend Dunja. Sometimes they skate off cliffs, sometimes they aim golf balls at each other's crotches, and sometimes they scrape their knees with cheese graters. In the depressed mining town of Bor, there's nothing to do and no ambition to do it with. Marko, nicknamed “Toda,” is the son of a smelter. He quit school and doesn't feel like working, but he has to attend lame government counseling sessions to get health insurance. Stefan's dad drives a Mercedes and is active in union politics. This is their last summer together before Stefan goes off to university in Belgrade. For now, the teenagers imitate hip hop culture, make digital films, participate in a karaoke contest, beat each other up, and drink lots of beer. A rivalry forms as they try to gain Dunja's favor. But the miners' protests are attracting increasing media attention. Soon the boys' adolescent hijinks will come to an end as adulthood looms on the horizon in TILVA ROŠ. (In Serbian with subtitles) –B.B.