International Premiere

Short Synopsis

Acclaimed Serbian feature focusing on the drastic lengths a man will go to attain legal status in the EU.

Review

Kenedi is in huge debt to some scary gangsters after building a house for his family. He finds himself searching for any kind of work to support himself, for as little as €10 per day, a scarce amount to help him relieve his debt. Ultimately, Kenedi decides to look for money in the sex business. Initially offering his services to older ladies and widows, he expands his 'business' to offer sex to wealthy men. When he finds out about new liberal European laws on gay marriage, Kenedi sees prospects in looking for "marriage material", to renew his search for legal status in the EU. The opportunity arises during the EXIT Music Festival in Novi Sad, where he meets Max, a guy from Munich. But will their promising relationship solve Kenedi's problems?

While this is a fictional feature, Kenedi Is Getting Married sequels two documentaries with the same subject meatter.  The noted sociological documentary director Zilnik has been following Kenedi since his deportation to Serbia in 2002. In this third installment of the Kenedi saga (following “Kenedi Goes Home” 2003, and “Kenedi, Lost and Found” 2005) fiction is chosen over the documentary genre. Here the characters who featured in the previous films are given a script inspired by their own lives.  Whilst this might seem exploitative, the warmth and understanding with which Kenedi’s world is treated will dissuade all judgment.

Damjan Bogdanovic