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Secret Ingredient Isčelitel

Gjorče Stavreski / North Macedonia / 2017 / 104 min

An amusingly provocative crime comedy containing a hefty dose of Balkan humour, Secret Ingredient addresses the issues of family ties, Macedonia’s crumbling health system and the magical powers of marijuana.

festivals, awards Thessaloniki 2017 (Audience Award), Tallinn 2017, Sofia 2018 (Special Mention), Santa Barbara 2018 (Best International Feature)

Vele is an underpaid train mechanic who occasionally engages in shady dealings. He can’t afford to buy expensive medications for his father, a cancer patient. Desperate, he steals marijuana from some criminals, makes a cake with it and gives it to him, hoping it will reduce the pain. His father’s health miraculously improves, but Vele is suddenly confronted by their neighbours, who demand the recipe for the “remedial” cake, and by the criminals, who want their drugs back. The greatest challenge, however, is to persuade his father that his life is worth living for.

“I /…/ was extremely careful to achieve balance on the issue. I portrayed both extremes, but it was important for me to position myself in the middle, and on the side of medicine and science. /.../ Still, the film was positive PR for marijuana. Through the humour, this topic reached older audiences who have realised that it is not a taboo. /…/ The father-son relation in the movie is very similar to that between my mother and I. /…/ It is a specific Balkan or maybe Mediterranean love. The parent wants to see you grow up and be independent on the one hand, but on the other, doesn’t let go of you.” (Gjorce Stavreski)

Gjorče Stavreski
Born in in 1978 in Skopje. He graduated in film direction from the Faculty of Dramatic Arts in Skopje. A film and video professional, Stavreski has made numerous shorts, documentaries and commercials, and founded Fragment Film production company. He was a math prodigy as a child. The filmmaker claims to be an avid photographer and a Sudoku nerd. Secret Ingredient is his fiction feature debut.

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