Guca

Synopsis

Guca is the name of a small village in Serbia which for over 40 years has been home to the national trumpet festival.

Once a small local affair, it now pulls crowds of over 200,000 and is legendary across the Balkans. Milivoj Ilic’s account of the place, the people and the competitors is as exuberant, joyous and noisy as the festival itself.

The film captures the brilliance and the machismo of the performances at a festival where young men do battle with brass bands. The film follows two young players, the main rivals for the coveted ‘Golden Trumpet’, both of whom learnt as boys from fathers who have also competed in a country where mastering traditional playing is still held in high esteem.

You’ll never look at a trumpet the same way again.

About the director

Milivoj Ilic was educated at Reading University. After winning awards as a commercials director and working in television and video art, he made his first feature-length documentary ‘Guca’. 

Previous films:

Guca is the director’s first film.

According to the filmmakers

Essentially I wanted to make Guca in the first place to show a secret, wonderful music festival to a western audience. I found a ‘peace and love’ Balkan Woodstock which was very much at odds with the vision that we in the West have been used to seeing of Serbia and the Balkans… I became conscious of the film as being a counterweight to the one track ‘celebrity/reporter/politician visits or revisits the wartorn Balkans’ angle.

Best thing about it: The music - full of the soul and passion of the region.

Worst thing: Lack of control of some aspects of the process. What can you do? It’s a festival.

Sales/Screening Contact

Name:

Leila Monk, TVF International

Number:

020 7520 8529

Distribution Deals

• TV
  • Al Jazeera
  • The Arts Channel (New Zealand)
  • B92 (Serbia)
  • LinkTV (US)