The black comedy Requiem for Mrs. J (Rekvijem za gospodju J.) directed by Bojan Vuletić Mirjana has been selected by Serbia as its candidate for best foreign-language film in the 2018 Oscars.

The film, starring Mirjana Karanović (Mrs. J), Jovana Gavrilovic (Ana), Danica Nedeljkovic (Koviljka), and Vucic Perovic (Milanče) premiered at the 2017 Berlin International Film Festival.

In Requiem for Mrs. J, Mrs. J. is a middle-aged widow living in a modest post-communist flat in Belgrade with her mother in law and two daughters. Jelena has had enough of life. Her husband died a year ago, and she feels tired and lonely – in spite of her two daughters and her mother-in-law who all share her flat. She has decided that, at the end of the week, on the anniversary of her husband’s death, she will commit suicide. She has a pistol ready for the job. But beforehand there are a number of things to sort out: she needs to return an armchair she borrowed from a neighbour and she has to terminate her life insurance policy. She also needs to get a mason to put her portrait photograph on her gravestone and renew her health insurance card. In order to do so, Jelena needs proof that she has been a salaried employee for the past twenty years. Gradually, this quiet, humble woman begins to realize that nothing’s simple in a country that’s constantly swinging back and forth between torment and transition. The authorities are unable to cope, Jelena’s former employers are now bankrupt and the remaining staff are just killing time. And the end of the week is drawing near.