‘Wind, Talk To Me’: Rotterdam Review

Dir/scr. Stefan Djordjevic. Serbia/Slovenia/Croatia. 2025. 100mins

Simply as grief takes many kinds, so does the method of therapeutic. For Stefan Djordjevic, who had initially meant to make an autobiographical documentary about his mom Negrica as she fought most cancers utilizing different medicines, this quietly profound hybrid characteristic was instrumental find a state of grace after her loss of life. 

Processes grief by means of a inventive act

And never only for Djordjevic: Wind, Speak To Me combines previously-shot footage of his mom with the involvement of his prolonged household: his grandparents, brother, cousin, aunt, an assortment of nephews and nieces and, crucially, his scene-stealing canine Lija. It’s scripted, and the members of the family are appearing, however they’re additionally enjoying themselves and contributing their very own traces of dialogue, bringing heat, authenticity and a palpable reference to the spirit of Djordjevic’s late mom to the image.

Djordjevic has had success as a brief filmmaker – his 2019 movie The Final Picture Of My Father claimed quite a few prizes, together with at Locarno, Sarajevo and Zagreb – and likewise works extensively as a cinematographer. A movie which processes grief by means of a inventive act, Wind, Speak To Me (the title is taken from a shifting change between mom and son which bookends the movie) might draw comparisons with the work of Roberto Minervini, with its deft mix of actual folks in dramatised conditions. Following a heat reception at Rotterdam, the movie ought to get pleasure from additional pageant curiosity and will catch the attention of adventurous distributors or streaming platforms.

Negrica’s household honour her reminiscence twofold, firstly by ending building on the summer time cabin on the shores of the Bor Lake in jap Serbia the place she spent cherished months of her ultimate years, and secondly by collaborating on this movie. Djordjevic has chosen to not act because the movie’s cinematographer –  it might have been tough to take action, given that he’s a principal character within the story. However DOP Marco Brdar’s lensing is so intimate and unobtrusive, it makes the digital camera really feel like a member of the household, somebody innately conversant in the textures of this casual, Bohemian home arrange and with the dynamics between varied personalities.

The movie begins with a household celebration in honour of Djordjevic’s grandmother’s eightieth birthday. It’s an occasion tinged with disappointment, with the lack of Negrica nonetheless contemporary within the household’s hearts. Djordjevic’s suggestion that they need to all spend the summer time on the place she liked is straight away embraced by everybody. The important thing dramatic machine is delivered by Djordjevic’s canine Lija, who performs the fictional function of a stray canine the director by accident hits along with his automobile after which nurses again to well being. And she or he completely aces it, with a canine efficiency for the ages.

Lija’s symbolic function is one among closure – by caring for the injured canine and saving her life, Djordjevic heals a few of the regrets of his mom’s passing. And, like Negrica, the little canine is a unifying pressure inside the household. Via her, we see the delicate aspect of Djordjevic’s grandfather, for instance, who takes day without work from barking DIY directions at his grandsons to offer Lija ear-scratches.

One other potent thought within the movie is that of simultaneous timelines; a permeable division between the previous and the current. We all know from the outset that Negrica died and that the image we’re watching was created in her honour, however Djordjevic weaves beforehand shot footage into the story as if she is current and sharing this summer time together with her household – which in a manner, in fact, she is.