Ivana the Terrible

For the titular character of Ivana the Terrible it starts… well, quite terrible, and only gets worse. Played by director Ivana Mladenović, Ivana is a Serbian filmmaker based in Romania, who has been invited to her hometown Kladovo to co-direct a new Serbian-Romanian cultural festival. At first, Ivana seems more preoccupied with her many (imaginary?) diseases, arguing with her family, and dealing with her ex-boyfriend Andrei as well as with a new lover. However, as the festival draws near, Ivana’s radical artistic vision collides with the expectations of the more traditionally-minded local community, to reveal sharp tensions related to identity and history. A witty, smart, and self-ironic film about a personal and artistic crisis.

Ivana Mladenović (b. 1984) is a Serbian filmmaker from Kladovo. She studied at the national film school in Bucharest, Romania, where she now lives. Mladenović has previously directed several short films and a documentary, but she is best known for her hybrid feature film Soldiers. Stories from Ferentari, which earned her an international breakthrough as a filmmaker in 2017. The film screened at Oslo Pix in 2018.