Passportless mess
A fool, a genius, or ‘a man who destroys everything’? Piecing together Zoran, a mythic figure of Belgrade- by Aeon VideoWatch on Aeon.
The article describes a short documentary titled Passportless mess by Czech filmmaker Maja Penčič, which investigates the enigmatic figure of Zoran, a former resident of a block of flats in Belgrade, Serbia. The film blends truth and myth as it portrays Zoran through conflicting accounts from people who knew him at different stages of his life. These accounts vary widely, describing him as everything from warm and intelligent to someone who never feels shame or is simply a dick. The documentary uses a home-video aesthetic to create an intimate and slightly surreal atmosphere, highlighting the imperfections of memory. Instead of presenting a single version of Zoran's life, the film shows how details shift around a few fixed points, leaving the viewer with a fragmented portrait of the man rather than a clear identity.
Maja Penčič, the director of the documentary, adopts an investigative approach to uncover who Zoran truly was. She does not rely on a single narrative but instead gathers testimonies from multiple acquaintances who interacted with Zoran at different times. These testimonies are contradictory, reflecting the complexity and ambiguity of Zoran's character. The film's home-video aesthetic contributes to its raw and unfiltered feel, evoking the way memories can be distorted over time. The documentary does not aim to resolve the contradictions but instead presents them as part of Zoran's larger-than-life persona. By the end, the film leaves the viewer with a sense of Zoran as a cautionary tale rather than a fully realized individual.
The documentary presents Zoran through a series of conflicting portrayals provided by people who knew him. Some describe him as warm, intelligent, and exceptional, while others characterize him as someone who never feels shame or is simply a dick. These varying accounts create a puzzle that the film does not attempt to solve. Instead, the film highlights how memory and perception can shape a person's legacy in contradictory ways. The lack of a single, coherent narrative about Zoran underscores the difficulty of capturing the essence of a complex individual. The film suggests that Zoran's true nature may be less about who he was and more about the stories others tell about him.
The documentary employs a home-video aesthetic, which gives it an intimate and slightly surreal quality. This style mimics the imperfections of memory, where details are often fuzzy, inconsistent, or exaggerated. The aesthetic choice reinforces the film's exploration of how truth and myth intertwine in personal narratives. By using raw, unpolished footage, the film creates a sense of immediacy and authenticity, as if the viewer is piecing together Zoran's story from fragmented recollections. This approach also adds a layer of ambiguity, leaving the audience to question the reliability of the accounts presented.
Rather than presenting Zoran as a fully realized individual, the documentary frames him as a *cautionary tale*. This means that Zoran's story serves as a warning or lesson about human behavior, particularly the ways in which people can be remembered—or misremembered—by others. The film does not provide a definitive answer about who Zoran was but instead focuses on the contradictions and inconsistencies in the accounts of his life. By the end, Zoran is less a man and more a collection of stories, each highlighting different aspects of his personality or actions. This approach invites the viewer to reflect on how we construct narratives about others.
