Serbia

30′43″, 2023.

DIRECTED BY

Gordana Simonović Veljković

PRODUCED BY

Boban Nikolić

SCRIPTWRITER

Gordana Simonović Veljković

CINEMATOGRAPHER

Dragiša Krstić

EDITED BY

Mirjana Gmitrović Todić

   Storytelling of Pirot is a form of artistic expression in prose or poetry in the dialect of Pirot, and is a centuries-old custom and social practice with the help of which entire generations have learned life lessons and found respite from the hard everyday life in the Stara Planina. Storytellers from Stara Planina have been taught this skill by original bearers of knowledge from the circle of friends and family, and have passed it on themselves in an oral fashion. Extreme depopulation of the Stara Planina area has weakened collective memory. Storytellers disappear but recordings remain, and storytelling of Pirot is now one of the elements of intangible cultural heritage of Serbia.

Gordana Simonović Veljković is a journalist and filmmaker with more than two decades of experience in researching the life and customs of Stara Planina, seeking to save from oblivion the stories that have marked life in this area.