Fighting For Death

Logline
Two aging inhabitants of a remote village lead a bitter fight over who dies first and gets the only remaining grave in the village.

Synopsis

In a deserted Macedonian village, the last remaining occupant, grandpa Milojko, goes to his deceased wife’s grave. He carefully plans his own death in empty grave next to his wife’s. His plan seems perfect until one morning he faces an even older man than him, grandpa Janko, sitting on the other side of the open grave. Janko claims that the open grave belongs to his parents and he has the right to inhabit it. The two men start arguing about who gets to die in the last grave. In an absurd twist of fate, Milojko’s fight for death turns into a battle for the life of a man he doesn’t even know.

Year of Released: 2016
Running Time: 15′

Cast & Crew

Director: Eleonora Veninova
Producer: Goce Kralevski
Director of Photography: Dimo Popov
Art Direction: Nikola Angjelovski

Screen Writer: Eleonora Veninova
Editor: Goce Kralevski
Music: Kristian Sensini
Costume Design: Irena Bonevska

Principal Cast: Mite Grozdanov, Ilija Strumenikovski

Festivals & Awards

Izmir International Short Film Festival,Turkey, 2016 – Golden Cat Award for second best international film
Drama International Film Festival, Greece, 2016 – Special Award for Best Male Acting
Balkan Film Food Festival, Pogradec, Albania 2017 – Award for Best short Comedy
ODA, Tetovo, Macedonia, 2017 – Best Editing award
Mediterranean short Film Festival of Tangier, Morroco 2017- Special mention
Macedonian Film Festival, Toronto, Canada 2017 – Best short
Winter Apricots: Prilep International Film Festival, Prilep, Macedonia 2017 – Award for Best Cinematography

Montreal World Film Festival, Montreal, Canada, 2016
Encounters Short Film and Animation Festival, Bristol, UK, 2016
Athens International Film Festival, Athens, Ohio, USA, 2016
Kinenova Skopje, Macedonia, 2016
Certamen Internacional de Cortos Ciudad de Soria, Spain, 2016
Bogotashorts, Bogota, Columbia, 2016
Goa Arts and Literature Festival, India, 2016
Ohrid Film Festival, Ohrid, Macedonia 2016
Filmski Front Festival, Novi Sad, Serbia, 2016
Cinedays, Skopje, Macedonia 2016
Manaki Brothers Film Festival, Bitola, Macedonia, 2016
Tirana International Film Festival, Tirana, Albania, 2016
Linea d’Ombra – Festival Culture Giovani, Salerno, Italy, 2016

Jagran Film Festival, India, 2016
Tuzla International Film Festival, Tuzla, Bosnia and Herzegovina, 2016
Live at Heart Festival, Orebro, Sweden, 2016
Skopje Film Festival, Skopje, Macedonia, 2016
Macedonian Cinema Days, Sydney Astralia 2016
Regensburg Short Film Week, Regensburg, Germany, 2017
Vilnius Film Festival- Kino Pavasaris, Vilnius, Lithuania, 2017
South East European Film Festival, Los Angeles, USA 2017
Pula Film Festival, Pula, Hrvatska, 2017
SEE A PARIS, Paris, France, 2017Divan Film Festival, Cetate, Romania, 2017
Festival Mediteranskog i Evropskog Filma, Trebinje, BIH 2017
Jinzan Hancheng International Short Film Festival, Hancheng, China 2017
Sedicicorto International Film Festival, Forlì, Italy 2017
International Short Film Festival, Berlin, Germany 2017
International Bosporus Film Festival, Istanbul, Turkey 2017
Kultivator Festival, Skopje, Macedonia 2017
aviFEST, Podgorica, Montenegro 2017
Restl Fest, Belgrad, Serbia 2017
Fastnet Film Festival, Schull, Ireland, 2018
Aaretaler Kurzfilmfestival, Münsingen, Switzerland 2018
Link International Film Festival, Virginia Water, United Kingdom 2018
Minsk International Short Film Festival “Kinosmena”, Minsk, Belarus 2018
Bayelsa International Film Festival – Yenagoa, Nigeria 2019
International Women Filmmakers Festival -Turkey 2021
Fribourg International Film Festival – Switzerland 2024

Trailer

News
FIPRESCI critic István Szathmáry writes about “Fighting for Death”
“Fighting for Death” in the Turkish magazine Hayal Perdesi
Review on Fighting for Death (CortoEuruopa, in Italian)
See all news about “Fighting for Death”
“Fighting for Death” at Macedonian Film Agency