ABOUT THE FILM
THE FILM
The Weight of Chains 2 is the sequel of the popular and controversial documentary film directed by Boris Malagurski, analyzing neoliberal reforms in the Balkans and the effects on politics, economics, military, culture and education and the media in the former Yugoslavia. Through stories of sold off companies, corrupt politicians, fictional tribunals and various military alliances, the film deconstructs modern myths about everything the people have been told will bring them a better life. Featuring exclusive interviews with Noam Chomsky, Oliver Stone, Carla Del Ponte and others.
THE PRODUCTION
This film, as the previous one, was funded through donations given by individuals worldwide, as well as several sponsors who supported the film team. Production of the film started in March 2012, continued well into 2013 and 2014, and was completed in November 2014. Interviews were conducted across Canada, the United States, Serbia, Croatia, the United Kingdom, Switzerland and Macedonia, while post-production work was done in Serbia, Germany and Malta
THE DIRECTOR
Boris Malagurski is a Serbian-Canadian film director, producer, writer, television host and activist. His films include “Kosovo: Can You Imagine?” (2008), “The Weight of Chains” (2010), “The Presumption of Justice” (2012), “Belgrade” (2013) and “The Weight of Chains 2” (2014), and his work has been screened on festivals worldwide, including Raindance in London, BANEFF in Stockholm and Oslo, Montecasino Festival in Johannesburg, Subversive Festival in Zagreb and Beldocs in Belgrade, and broadcast on TV channels worldwide, including RT and Eurochannel.
FESTIVALS AND SCREENINGS
Starting on November 20, 2014, “The Weight of Chains 2” traveled from South Africa, Serbia, Germany, Austria and Mexico to Canada, Norway, the UK, Croatia and Sweden.
- Montecasino Film Festival, Johannesburg, S. A.
- Swedish Film Institute, Stockholm, Sweden
- Monterrey Institute of Technology, Mexico City
- National Museum of Culture, Mexico City
- Simon Fraser University, Vancouver, Canada
- Royal Cinema, Toronto, Canada
- Metropol Kino, Innsbruck, Austria
- Community Hall, Stuttgart, Germany
- Banski dvor, Banja Luka, Bosnia-Herzegovina
- Community Hall, Berlin, Germany
- Eurocinema, Subotica, Serbia
- Akademija 28 Cinema, Belgrade, Serbia
- Hollywood Megaplex, Vienna, Austria
- Cultural Centre, Novi Sad, Serbia
- Central Linz Cinema, Linz, Austria
- Kupina Cinema, Nis, Serbia
- Raindance Film Festival, London, UK
- Balkan New Film Festival, Oslo, Norway
- Subversive Film Festival, Zagreb, Croatia
- Dum CSVTS, Prague, Czech Republic
- Delta Cineplexx, Podgorica, Montenegro
- Slovenska Kinoteka, Ljubljana, Slovenia
- Kriterion Cinema, Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina
- Cultural Centre, Gracanica, Serbia
MEET THE STARS OF THE FILM
Noam Chomsky
/american linguist and philosopher/
An American linguist, philosopher, cognitive scientist, historian, and activist.
Proclaimed the “father of modern linguistics”, he has worked for 50 years as an Institute Professor and Professor (Emeritus) in the Department of Linguistics & Philosophy at MIT, Boston, where he is curcurrently Professor Emeritus, and has authored over 100 books.
He was voted the “world’s top public intellectual” in a 2005 poll. Chomsky is known for his critiques of U.S. foreign policy and contemporary capitalism, and has discussed issues regarding the former Yugoslavia to a
great extent in the last few decades
Oliver Stone
/hollywood film producer and director/
An American film director, screenwriter, producer and military military veteran.
Many of Stone’s films primarily focus on controversial American political and cultural issues and conspiracies during the late 20th century. Stone’s films often combine different camera and film formats within a single scene as evidenced in JFK, Natural Born Killers, and Nixon.
Stone has received three Academy Awards for his work on the films Midnight Express, Platoon, and Born on the the Fourth of July. He was presented with the Extraordinary Contribution to Filmmaking Award at the 2007 Austin Film Festival.
Carla Del Ponte
/former Chief Prosecutor of the ICTY/
A former Swiss attorney general, who was appointed prosecutor for the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) and the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) in August 1999.
In 2003, the U.N. Security Council removed Del Ponte as the Prosecutor for the ICTR. She remained the Prosecutor for the ICTY until 2008, when she was succeeded by Serge Brammertz. In 2008, Del Ponte published a book “The Hunt” in which she wrote that Kosovo Albanians had smuggled human organs of kidnapped Serbs after the
Kosovo war ended in 1999.
”A Yugoslav version of The Shock Doctrine by Michael Winterbottom (based on the book by Naomi Klein), or a cross between Michael Moore’s Capitalism: A Love Story and Alex Gibney’s Casino Jack and the United States of Money.”
Agata Tomazic, Slovenian newspaper Delo
MEET BORIS MALAGURSKI
Serbian film critic Dubravka Lakic wrote that Malagurski „indisputably made a full-blooded and, for our cinematic terms, insurpassed documentary.“
Where It All Started
Born in 1988 to Prof. Dr. Branislav Malagurski and Slavica Malagurski, Boris grew up in the northern Serbian town of Subotica.
Malagurski’s last name originates from the Polish town of Mała Góra. In the 17th century, a soldier from that town fought under the command of John III Sobieski against the Turks in the Battle of Senta and afterwards decided decided to stay in Subotica, which is now in the Serbian province of Vojvodina.
Malagurski emigrated to Canada in 2005. While studying Film Production at the University of British Columbia, Malagurski became a Canadian citizen and founded the Malagurski Cinema production company.
His Best Known Work
- The Canada Project (60 min, 2005) Malagurski’s move from Serbia to Canada.
- Kosovo | Can You Imagine? (30 min, 2009) Human rights of Serbs in Kosovo.
- The Weight of Chains (124 min, 2010) The reasons behind the breakup of Yugoslavia
- The Presumption of Justice (40 min, 2012) What really happened to Brice Taton.
- Belgrade (82 min, 2013) The story of the Serbian capital.
- The Weight of Chains 2 (123 min, 2014) Neoliberal reforms in the Balkans.
- Kosovo: A Moment In Civilization (46min, 2017) Serbia’s UNESCO heritage in Kosovo
- Like Me a Million (17min, 2019) Malagurski’s first fiction film
- The Weight of Chains 3 (123min, 2019) How our existence is threatened
Festivals & Broadcast
”The Canada Project” won Best Film at the First Take International Film Festival in Toronto and was broadcasted on Radio Television Serbia, while “Kosovo | Can You Imagine?” won the Silver Palm at the International Film Festival in Mexico, as well as Best Film at the BC Days Documentary Film Festival in Vancouver. “The Weight of Chains” was screened in cinemas and festivals worldwide, including the Raindance Film Festival in London and BELDOCS in Belgrade, and was broadcasted in front of 644 million viewers on RT and 50 million viewers on Eurochannel. Belgrade” was shown on Radio Television Serbia as well. “The Weight of Chains 2” was shown on festivals from Johannesburg, London and Stockholm to Zagreb, Oslo and Mexico City.
”The message of the film is clearly presented – resistance to neoliberalism is no longer a matter of ideology, but of common sense.”
Dubravka Lakic, Serbian newspaper Politika
This film would not have been possible without the amazing production team that worked on the film, as well as those who helped out along the way in any way they could.
Anastasia Trofimova
/cinematographer/
Film director, producer, cinematographer and journalist, known for her groundbreaking documentaries “Twelve Palestines” and “Her War: Women vs. ISIS”. Currently works at RT in Moscow.
Ivana Rajovic
/cinematographer/
Cinematographer and director of “The Presumption of Justice” and executive producer of “Belgrade”. For “The Weight of Chains 2”, she worked as a cinematographer.
Milan Lakic
/cinematographer/editor/
Director of MM Video Production in Johannerburg, South Africa, filmed on location in Skopje, Macedonia and edited the first cut of “The Weight of Chains 2” in Belgrade, Serbia.
Aleksandar Bundalo
/sound post-production/
Owner of Sound Villain Ltd in Malta, works with production sound and sound design, known for his work on Simshar (2014), .303 (2009) and Captain Phillips (2013).
Aleksandar Savic
/research assistant/
Political analyst, founder of Ronin Magazine, longtime colleague of Boris Malagurski, worked on collecting data, traveling and filming interviewees for “The Weight of Chains 2”.
Zlatko Bogatinovski
/cinematographer, editor/
Director of MM Video Production in Johannerburg, South Africa, filmed on location in Skopje, Macedonia and edited the first cut of “The Weight of Chains 2” in Belgrade, Serbia.
Mileta Kecina
/video archives/
Director of the Program Archives of Radio Television Serbia in Belgrade, worked on helping the production team find the archival footage needed for “The Weight of Chains 2”.
Branislav Malagurski
/production manager/
Legal Consultant, Co-Director of the Serbian branch of Malagurski Cinema, worked on filming interviews for “The Weight of Chains 2” and in charge of film documentation.
Milan Jankovic
/original soundtrack/
Lead of Badversion band, composed and recorded the song “Second Chance” that plays at the end of “The Weight of Chains 2”.
”Malagurski’s presentation and narration are passionate, wry and full of humour; anyone looking for a whirlwind education on Eastern Europe, neoliberalism and the influence of the U.S. on the world economy, this is your stop.”
Raindance Film Festival Review, London, UK
SEE WHAT THE BUZZ IS ALL ABOUT
Choose from three clips – the official trailer and two scenes from the film, but also have a look at the first part of the film!
The Weight Of Chains
Watch the official trailer for the film that captivated audiences across the world.
Washington Consensus
Neoliberalism in a nutshell – featuring Jovan B. Dusanic, Milica Vuklis, narrated by Malagurski.
Yugoslav Debt
Featuring interviews with Oliver Stone, Vuk Jeremic and Slavko Kulic, on loans imposed on Yugoslavia by the US.
Part One
Watch the first part of “The Weight of Chains” which will help you better understand the second part.
THIS IS OUR FILM
Thank You. Your donation made this film possible.
‘The Weight of Chains 2’ was not funded by big production companies or a large corporations – the budget was created through donations from people around the world, people like you! This makes the project completely unique and it’s why this film is, really, your film.
Boris Malagurski
/film director/
Total Raised: CAD $ 45,049
THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT
This film would not have been possible without the sponsors who helped fund the film budget. Special thanks to our Platinum Sponsors: Dragan Davidovic, Alexekin Rockowia and Jovica Andonov
This film received support from several Serbian institutions and organizations, including:
CONTACT BORIS MALAGURSKI
Due to a large number of e-mails received daily by “The Weight of Chains” film team, we can not respond to every e-mail, but will read every one and try our best to reply if at all possible.