The Heart of It

Experimental/Documentary • Germany 2010 • 26 min

Synopsis

Five years after the NATO air raids during the Kosovo War, filmmaker Michal Kosakowski accompanied a friend back to his hometown of Novi Sad, Serbia. Once Yugoslavia’s second-largest city, Novi Sad was among the hardest hit — suffering massive destruction of infrastructure, significant civilian casualties, and long-lasting ecological damage.

The Heart of It is a poetic meditation on the aftermath: the daily lives of those living on the fringes, and a city marked by physical, environmental, and psychological transformation. The film captures not just ruins, but resilience — reflecting on memory, loss, and the invisible scars of war.

Director’s Statement

Novi Sad, Serbia. A portrait of urban society in the Balkans in the 21st century. People at the center — and at the margins. A post-war atmosphere, shaped by the knowledge of what happened in former Yugoslavia.

But where is "the heart of it"?

Perhaps it lies in the work that must be done, day after day. In the simple act of stooping to pick up a potato. In the hands that tie every sack of cabbages. It is this daily labor — repetitive, physical, unglamorous — that transcends the present moment. It reveals life itself, flowing hypnotically between past and future.

Michal Kosakowski

Streaming on

On Demand

Film Stills

Festivals / Venues

The Mindpirates @ The Vereinsheim • Berlin, Germany • May 19, 2010
Multiplicidade_2010 - imagem_som_inusitados • Oi Futuro Ipanema • Rio de Janeiro • December 18-19, 2010
UNIONDOCS - Center for Documentary Art • Brooklyn, New York • January 20, 2013

Credits

Produced and directed by Michal Kosakowski
Written by Goran Mimica
Music composed by Paolo Marzocchi
Electronic sounds by Paolo Marzocchi & Stefano Sasso
Cinematography by Michal Kosakowski
Edited by Michal Kosakowski
Sound by Evelyn Eberhardt
Sound Design by Fabian Lorenz
Credits Design by Rafal Kosakowski

 Assistant Director: Evelyn Eberhardt
Location Manager: Aleksandar Mimica
Production Manager: Evelyn Eberhardt
Production Assistants: Goran Mimica, Aleksandar Mimica

 Special Appearance by
Lidija Stevanovic, Nenad Mimica & Relja Drazic

Music

“Limbo“
performed by Single Malt Symphony Orchestra

 “Pondulo“
performed by Single Malt Symphony Orchestra

 „Ineffabili Inquilini dell'Intempesto“
for electronic sounds

 “Grufolone“
written and performed by Paolo Marzocchi and Paolo Rossi
used by kind permission of Domani Musica Editions

 “Peristalsi“
performed by Arena di Verona Orchestra Soloist Ensemble

 “The Shadow Outside“
glass harp performed by Robert Tiso, Single Malt Symphony Orchestra
published by Rugginenti, Milano

 „”Variazioni Inverse sul Peccato Originale“
performed by Orchestra Filarmonica Marchigiana
conducted by Romolo Gessi
published by Rugginenti, Milano

 “Ahenga Ahonga“
written and performed by Paolo Marzocchi and Paolo Rossi
used by kind permission of Domani Musica Editions

With Special Thanks to
Stojan Adamovic
Uli Aigner
Ognjana Bulatovic
Zoran Bulatovic
Therese Davies
Joseph Denize
Radivoj Doderovic
Nikola Dzafo/Art Klinika/Led Art
Dragica Jelcic/Doo “Janja Futog“
Elzbieta Kosakowska
Pawel Kosakowski
Tomislav Mimica
Vera Mimica
Neda Mimica Dukic
Miodrag Peric/Graffiti Bar
Ratko Radivojevic
Biljana Radovanov/Kulturno-Informativni Centar “Mladost“ – Futog
Kosta Simonovic/Serbian Embassy Vienna
Milka Vlaisavljevic

Shot on location in
Novi Sad and Futog, Serbia

Production company
Michal Kosakowski Productions • Munich • Germany

Official Poster