After decades of being an expat in Germany, elderly jazz-pianist Stevan Arsin returns home to Serbia. Concluding a lengthy legal process, the government confirms that – via post-socialist restitution – he can inherit the neglected mansion previously bequeathed to him by his parents. A series of encounters and reunions then opens an unexpected new chapter in Stevan’s life. The film is a vivid portrayal of the aging process and generational conflict in a country undergoing continuous transition.
"If Eighty Plus turns out to be a humorously incisive social portrait of family politics, identity and belonging, I am fine with that, too. Blending documentary realism and narrative fiction with non-professional actors, the film’s hybrid aesthetic aims to create a vision of elderly life in the post-socialist, transnational and hyper-transactional world we live in." (Želimir Žilnik)
Želimir Žilnik
Born in 1942 in Novi Sad, Serbia. Žilnik has earned praise for his socially engaged films since the late 1960s, while also facing censorship in the 1970s and ‘90s for his unflinching criticism of the government. Žilnik’s highly prolific output includes over 50 feature films and shorts, which have screened at various international film festivals.