Rubbed Out

Aleksandar Todorovic has been living in Slovenia for the past 30 years. One day, he went to have his driver’s licence renewed, but the clerk told him he did not exist anymore in the register of Slovenia. When Slovenia became independent in 1991 and parted from former Yugoslavia, Todorovic and more than 18,000 other citizens of non-Slovenian origin were erased from all official documents. This number is officially recognised by the state, but the Helsinki Watch estimates that it is actually much higher – somewhere between 200,000 and 300,000. Todorovic has founded the Association of Erased People and fights for the rights of this minority. In the year when Slovenia will enter the European Union, the Association demonstrates on the streets of Ljubljana and tries to recover the rights of mainly ex-Yugoslavs – Roma, Serbs, Macedonians and Bosnians. Many of them, although erased, are intimidated and scared to join the official protests and calls on the government. Finally, the Association sues the state and the High Court finds that the state committed an unjust and illegal act. It orders all rights to be returned to the minorities. But that is not so easy. The documentary is made in an investigative journalistic style by a director who, being of Bulgarian-Serbian origin, finds himself in a similar position.