Macedonian Artist's Film on Restoring Father's Monument Premieres in Shanghai

Elena Čemerska's documentary film, 'Ruins,' is set to have its world premiere on June 14 at the 28th Shanghai Film Festival. The film, a co-production between North Macedonia, Croatia, and Slovenia, will compete in the documentary section of the festival, which is the only A-category festival in China.

'Ruins' chronicles the restoration process of a modernist monument designed by Čemerska's late father, Gligor Čemerski, a prominent Macedonian contemporary artist. The film also delves into significant events that have shaped Čemerska's family.

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The film documents the restoration process of a modernist monument created by her late father Gligor Čemerski, one of the most significant Macedonian contemporary artists, but also the events that marked her family.

The monument, named Slobodata, was created in 1981 in honor of the 40th anniversary of the National Liberation War (NOB). It was recognized as the largest mosaic solely created by one artist in Europe. Situated at the foot of Lokubia hill, the work is a fusion of architecture, sculpture, and painting.

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In 1981, in collaboration with architect Radovan Rajenović, her father created a monumental monument of freedom in Kočani in honor of the 40th anniversary of the NOB, and it was declared the largest mosaic made by a single author in Europe.

Decades of neglect led to the monument's deterioration. Čemerska, along with her mother, embarks on a challenging journey to reconstruct the artwork, facing practical, administrative, and institutional hurdles. This struggle becomes part of a larger narrative encompassing loss and the physical absence of family members.

Through archival materials, personal recollections, and visual interpretations of the grand artwork, the film intertwines personal grief with the quiet decay of a once-shared social idealism that characterized a past era. Čemerska also co-wrote the screenplay and co-authored the dramaturgy with Marjan Alčevski.

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The monument has been left to decay for decades, so Elena, with her mother, begins to fight practical, administrative, and institutional challenges of reconstruction, which becomes part of a much broader story, the experience of loss and the physical absence of family members.