Serbian Director’s ‘Everyday Violence’ Drama Explores Normalisation of Peer Aggression at Karlovy Vary
Serbian director Miroslav Terzić's third feature film, "3 Weeks After," premiered in the main competition at the Karlovy Vary Film Festival, centring on a high school trip to Bulgaria. The narrative investigates how violence becomes tolerated and learned within peer relationships, focusing on everyday instances of aggression rather than spectacular incidents. Through this lens, Terzić aims to provoke audiences into examining the mechanisms by which interpersonal violence spreads and normalises itself within communities.
Terzić wrote the script in 2023 during a period when a mass shooting at a Serbian school—his birthplace—coincided with his creative process, lending the film's themes urgent real-world resonance. The director emphasises that conversations about mental health crises, particularly suicide, frequently arrive too late to prevent tragedy, positioning his work as both artistic statement and social intervention. By deliberately crafting a provocation designed not to be easily forgotten, Terzić resists audience indifference and demands sustained engagement with how violence becomes invisible in everyday contexts.
- "3 Weeks After" examines how peer violence normalises within high school communities, competing in Karlovy Vary's main selection
- Director Miroslav Terzić wrote the film in 2023 during an actual Serbian school shooting, infusing fictional narrative with urgent real-world parallels
- The film directly addresses late-intervention suicide conversations in Bulgaria, intentionally provoking audiences to recognise violence they otherwise overlook
Coverage
- Variety — ‘3 Weeks After’ Director on Tackling ‘Everyday’ Peer Violence and Why Conversations About Suicide in Bulgaria Happen Too Late: ‘We Don’t Notice the Fire’
- The Hollywood Reporter — ‘3 Weeks After’ Is a Timely Film About Peer Violence and “Violence Itself, How It Is Learned, Tolerated”