Chicken Elections

Set to cheerful music, black-and-white images show the official launch of the first mobile phone network. Smiling men (and a few women) in suits congratulate each other with the result, while the newsreader's voiceover praises Serbia's progress. Then, "nine years later" appears on the screen and the film changes to colour. The local traffic cop, who diligently hands out fines to motorists, pays a visit to his grandmother, Milena Milic, who lives by herself on a remote farm. He gives her a mobile phone and impatiently tries to explain to her how it works. Meanwhile, she complains about theft and ailments. As far as theft is concerned, the orthodox priest visiting her says "What can you do? That's what we Serbs are like." For her ailments, she goes to see a doctor, who cheers her up by singing a song. Everything is set against the backdrop of snap elections, for which a man delivers ballots by moped and about which fuddled men in a pub complain. Without explanation or comment, director Radovanovic also depicts a farming community that has to learn how to deal with the changing times. The events are accompanied by music and mirrored in archival images from the "good old days" - folk-dancing, driving a horse and buggy and cheerfully chopping wood.