Dwelling Among the Gods

After a tiring journey to Europe, a young Afghan woman named Fereshteh arrives in Belgrade with her husband and three children. There, she discovers that her younger brother Ali, who reached Belgrade before them, has drowned and is set to be buried as an unidentified person.

In a narrative echoing Sophocles’ Antigone, Fereshteh confronts state structures, family traditions, and the expectations of women in a patriarchal society.

Despite lacking personal documents and being unable to verify her own identity, Fereshteh is determined not to leave Belgrade until she can bury her brother under his rightful name. She embarks on a complicated process to establish his identity using a DNA sample from her father, who remains in Afghanistan.

Once she finally succeeds and obtains permission to claim the body, Fereshteh discovers that her father wishes to bury his son in Afghanistan. Throughout her life, Fereshteh has followed her father's wishes without question. However, this time, she chooses to make her own decision.

Vuk Ršumović is an acclaimed writer and director. He studied writing for film and theatre at the Faculty of Drama Arts in Belgrade and pursued Studies of Analytical Psychology of Carl Gustav Jung in both Belgrade and Zürich.

His debut feature film, No One's Child, premiered at the Venice Film Festival Critic's Week, where it won three awards: the Settimana della critica Raro Video Audience Award, the FIPRESCI Critics Award for Best Film (Orizzonti and International Critics' Week), and the FEDEORA Award for Best Script.

The film has garnered over 35 awards worldwide, including the New Voices/New Visions Award at the Palm Springs International Film Festival, the Best Film Award at the GoEast Film Festival in Wiesbaden, and the Best Director Award at the Tarkovsky International Film Festival.

In 2020, he wrote and directed the TV mini-series The Mould, based on a true story about a notorious "missing babies" scandal in former Yugoslavia.

Dwelling Among the Gods is his second feature film.

He has written extensively for TV and theatre and serves as a full-time professor of Screenwriting and Film Directing. He is an active member of the European Film Academy.