Film
Documentary: Gangster of Love
Mustachioed marriage broker Nedjeljko Babić left his career as a carpenter to pursue his true calling – as a matchmaker. The documentary Gangster of Love follows Babić, who goes by “Gangster,” as he attempts to find a husband for Maja, a 35-year old single woman from Bulgaria. It should be an easy job: Maja is young and attractive, and Gangster has many eager clients. But Maja has a young son, and she and Gangster soon discover that her Croatian suitors would rather remain alone than marry a foreigner with a child.
A revealing and engaging exploration of cross-cultural romance, Gangster of Love won the Croatian Telecom Audience Award at ZagrebDox in February and won over European audiences after being aired on ARTE TV.
Its international festival premier is scheduled for Friday, April 26 at Hot Docs, the largest documentary festival and conference in North America. According to Lynne Crocker, Hot Docs international programmer, “Gangster of Love is a delightful and provoking comedy fraught with social commentary about the pitfalls of modern romance in an old world culture.”
Gangster of Love was directed by Nebojša Slijepčević, a Zagreb-based filmmaker whose work includes the award-winning documentary In Four Years, and the short film Slap in the Face for the film project Zagreb Stories. Slijepčević co-wrote Gangster of Love with producer Vanja Jambrović.
Written by Elaine Ritchel (@elaineritchel)
Image source: HAVC
