After six decades of living and working in Germany, aging jazz musician Stevan Arsin returns to Serbia to finally resolve a long-delayed restitution case concerning his family estate – a stretch of fertile land and a neglected villa inherited from his parents. A series of encounters with family members, childhood friends, and bureaucratic hurdles in the inheritance process open an unexpectedly turbulent new chapter in his life. This rarely subversive cinematic portrayal of aging and generational conflict in a time of constant transition shows that Žilnik’s later works remain as bold and compelling as his early ones. Beneath a deceptively gentle surface lies a sharp socio-political critique of broader economic processes and their impact on individuals and communities. The old guard strikes back.
In this film, four generations of the Arsin family serve not only as characters but also as representatives of differing ideological and rhetorical positions, that is, positions of power. Through their generational divides and tensions, the family becomes a reflection of the socio-political and economic ruptures between two distinct historical periods and systems. The trauma of collapse, both of a country and of the family as its micro-metaphor, has paradoxically enabled the present to emerge. The characters, short-sightedly, perceive and define the present as better and more successful than the past, disregarding the perspectives of their descendants, who seek to escape from this very present. If viewers interpret Eighty Plus as an ironic social portrait of our family politics, identities, and notions of belonging, that’s perfectly valid. As Stevan navigates the emotional and practical challenges of his current situation, while recalling life in Yugoslavia before all the wars, he slowly rebuilds connections with family members long left behind. He also rekindles old friendships and even sparks a romantic interest with a former stage partner. Blending documentary realism and fiction, and involving both professional and non-professional actors, the film’s hybrid aesthetic aims to depict one possible vision of elderly life in the post-socialist, transnational, hyper-transactional world we live in. (Želimir Žilnik)
*Director Želimir Žilnik and producer Sarita Matijević Žilnik will join us for a Q&A after the screening, moderated by film director Ivan Ramljak.
Awards and Festivals:
Berlinale Forum (2025) – World Premiere; goEast Film Festival (2025) – FIPRESCI Award
Želimir Žilnik (b. 1942) is a filmmaker, screenwriter, and producer, with more than 50 feature and documentary films to his name. A pioneer of the docudrama genre, he has received numerous awards at both domestic and international film festivals. Since his early work, following a law degree, he has focused on topics which include social, political, and economic critique of everyday life. Issues of displacement, migration, and social upheaval in the context of an expanded Europe have shaped his films over the last two decades, including: Fortress Europe (2000), Kenedi Goes Back Home (2003), Kenedi, Lost and Found (2005), Europe Next Door (2005), Soap Opera on the Danube (2006), Kenedi is Getting Married (2007), The Old School of Capitalism (2009), One Woman – One Century (2011), Pirika on Film (2013), Logbook_Serbistan (2015), and The Most Beautiful Country in the World (2018).
