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The Belgrade Phantom
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The Belgrade Phantom
IDFA 2009

The Belgrade Phantom

Beogradski fantom
Jovan Todorovic
Serbia, Hungary, Bulgaria
2009
80 min
International Premiere
Festival history

In the late summer of 1979, while Yugoslavia was still a single state under Tito's control, a mysterious young man started stealing cars and using them for joyrides around nocturnal Belgrade. Authorities noted his predilection for white Porsches in particular. By openly defying the police and outfoxing them in wild car chases, he quickly grew into a popular hero. reconstructs the events using archive footage, interviews, and dramatized sequences, and only during the final credits do we hear the voice of the actual Belgrade Phantom on old cassette recordings. The new footage boasts an actor with a cool hairdo who envelops himself in dark silence. The soundtrack makes the 1970s atmosphere complete, and the mystery of the Belgrade Phantom remains intact in this film. He is described as a rebel without a cause, a Yugoslavian James Dean. In hindsight, his provocative behavior towards the authorities can be read as an omen of the crumbling dictatorial regime. Ultimately, the Phantom was apprehended in a spectacular fashion and given a relatively short prison sentence. Shortly after his release, he was killed in unexplained circumstances while driving a stolen Lada. By that point, Tito had already died.

Credits
Director
Co-production
    Tivoli Filmproduktions Ltd.,
    Camera FX Ltd.
    Tivoli Filmproduktions Ltd.,
    Camera FX Ltd.
World Sales
    Wide Management
    Wide Management
Screening copy
    Emote Productions
    Emote Productions