In the Dark

Twenty-two-year-old Davor wants something different. To leave the small mining town of Lubnica in Serbia, where he has lived his whole life – to just pack up and go somewhere else, to a place where he can be a stranger. Work in the coal mine like his father? No way, that’s no ambition in life. Unfortunately, his career options are limited in this poor region, and the only one left open to him is to descend into that dark world after all. “A sane man would never come to work here,” Davor says. “You come here because you’re a fool.” He resignedly drifts through the workweek, taking comfort in his dreams of a more interesting life. The camera stays close to the mineworkers, focusing in on their emotions and contemplations. Between beautifully shot images of the workers above and below the ground, Davor and his father talk openly to the camera about their doubts, pride and fear carrying out the hazardous work. At the same time, the mineworkers’ families seem to accept their fate, consigned to the darkness – their hopes of a sunnier future kept alive by a few highlights during their free hours. Davor is simply waiting for the time to be right.