A GOOD DAY’S WORK

Armin is unemployed for a long time, and he desperately needs a job. His wife Jasmina is pregnant; his son Edin has behavioral problems at school. He has a promising interview for the position of a school caretaker. When his car won’t start on the morning of the interview, he starts walking. Almost in front of his eyes a cyclist is injured in a hit-and-run. Armin calls up the ambulance, police. By the time he finally makes it, the interviews are already over. Andrej bumps into Izet on the school entrance, he is the one that got the job. Before he can reveal his latest failure to Jasmina, another work offer suddenly arrives. His brother-in-law takes him to a slaughterhouse on the outskirts of town, but it soon becomes apparent he doesn’t have the stomach to be a butcher. Incidentally, his caretaker qualifications land him the position of a security guard. Andrej is thrilled. Things are finally going his way. On his first day at work, Andrej stumbles on a scene that leads him to discover workers in the slaughterhouse are stealing. He again decides to do the right thing, and tells the truth, but the road to hell is paved with good intentions.

Vesna Award for Special Achievements

Jury’ commentary:

“With a hint of Italian neorealism, the film paints the everyday life of a young Bosnian family in distress, and of a father who seeks work but only finds it as he ends up in jail. In our corrupt world, this
universal story of a socially vulnerable family, the father unemployed and too honest to be able to accede to corruption even at the cost of survival, is very much topical around the globe. With his sensitive and precise direction, and leading an excellent international cast and crew, the directorhas created a compassionate film oftender emotions and high moral standing.”

• 24. SARAJEVO FILM FESTIVAL (Bosnia and Herzegovina), 10.-17.8.2018 – World premiere
• 23. BUSAN INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL (South Korea) – Flash Forward Competition, 4. – 13.10.2018 – International premiere
• 40. CINEMED – International Mediterranean Film Festival Montpellier (competition) (France), 19. – 27.10.2018
• 6. INTERNATIONAL BOSPHORUS FILM FESTIVAL (competition), Istanbul (Turkey), 26.10. – 3.11.2018
• 16. ZAGREB FILM FESTIVAL, Zagreb (Croatia), 11.- 18.11.2018
• 3. PODGORICA FILM FESTIVAL (Montenegro), 6.-9.12. 2018
• 23. SOFIA FILM FESTIVAL (Balkan competition) (Bulgaria), 13. – 17. 3. 2019
• 47. FEST BEOGRAD (official selection), 22.2.- 3.3.2019
• 16th BOSNIAN-HERZEGOVINIAN FILM FESTIVAL (competition), New York (USA), 10. – 13.4.2019
• 22. FESTIVAL OF SLOVENIAN FILMS, Portorose (Slovenia), 17.-22.9.2019
• 26. HAMBURG FILMFEST (competition) (Germany), 26.9.19 -5.10.19

“Writing as well as directing, Turk throws a plethora of other obstacles in Armin’s twisty path, including broken-down cars, lost phones, school meetings, missed obstetrician appointments with his pregnant wife (Maja Zećo) and a bordering-on-desperate lack of finances. Still, the onslaught of dispiriting incidents is never repetitive, outlandish or over-played, to the filmmaker’s considerable credit. There’s a rhythm to the narrative that reflects that of reality, albeit with more downs than ups. That daily life is filled with continual disappointment might not prove the cheeriest message, but it’s never packaged as a statement of grim condemnation either; rather, the film posits that the struggle is worth enduring for the sake of love and family.”

Screendaily: https://www.screendaily.com/reviews/good-days-work-busan-review/5133009.article

“What Good Day’s Work does very well is getting the audience involved, challenging viewers to ask themselves what they would do in Armin’s shoes. From the safety of the movie theatre, it is easy to judge him, tutting at some of his decisions, but Seksan’s charisma brings Armin closer to the audience: he is more a friend who is down on his luck than someone whose actions are to be judged coldly. Some of the subplots also aid in creating an attractive map for Armin to get lost in.”

Cineuropa: https://www.cineuropa.org/en/newsdetail/369777

“There is a palpable lack of films that deal with everyday life and everyman in Sarajevo without including the war and/or its consequences. Even with the international team behind it, Good Day’s Work makes for a solid film that represents the city and its people – and their struggles – well. On top of that, given the short time and the micro budget that it took to make this film, Good Day’s Work deserves a lot of praise and is definitely worth the watch.”

https://viewofthearts.com/2018/10/25/23rd-busan-international-film-festival-good-days-work-review/?fbclid=IwAR11O5fBUrTTI1Ygffm8RPHbEVIrtqng7sWZ_7-9iHW_irPfblWV0Uce7ec

Interview with the director following the Busan premiere: https://viewofthearts.com/2018/10/25/23rd-busan-international-film-festival-in-conversation-with-martin-turk-director-of-good-days-work/?fbclid=IwAR1pyyQv6to9_Pjdimwp0Lp_AzuyBrRGBz52kDoTRSkOxuc8fLQUcTdQy2k

Selection of project in the frame of Sarajevo – City Of Global Screen: https://www.screendaily.com/news/sarajevo-film-festival-trt-to-fund-feature-a-good-days-work/5120806.article

Start of production: https://www.sff.ba/novost/10768/shooting-of-martin-turks-feature-film-a-good-days-work-begins-in-sarajevo