Bottlemen (Flašaroši)

On the outskirts of Belgrade, Serbia, one of the biggest landfills in Europe spreads across the remains of the ancient Vinča civilization. What was once a cradle of European civilization now holds up a mirror to our contemporary, overconsumption-fuelled lifestyle. Moving from sweeping total shots of the stunning apocalyptic landscape – where clouds of toxic gas and gigantic swarms of foraging gulls eclipse the workers – the film focuses in on the plastic bottle collectors’ community that faces a new threat: the landfill is to be modernized, throwing everyone’s future into doubt. Bottlemen is a homage to a vibrant, essential and yet largely invisible community, as well as an eco-western and a stark contemplation of where our society is headed.