‘3 Weeks After’ Is a Timely Film About Peer Violence and “Violence Itself, How It Is Learned, Tolerated”

3 Weeks After is not for the faint of heart. The timely new film from Miroslav Terzić (Redemption Street, Stitches) takes us inside the nightmares that high school can be made of. And the Serbian director’s third feature, which world premieres on July 7 in the Crystal Globe Competition of the 60th edition of the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival (KVIFF), does so in haunting fashion that is bristling with tension.The film starts off with a group of high-school students and their teachers setting off from Serbia for a class trip to Bulgaria. But their bus breaks down, and they find themselves stranded in an old hotel. This is where the quiet and withdrawn Zoza decides to talk about his best friend’s recent suicide. The result is an unsettling cinematic deep dive into adolescent bullying, peer violence and the blurring lines between victim, witness, and perpetrator. The director co-wrote 3 Weeks After, which features cinematography by Damjan Radovanović, with Vladimir Arsenijević and Bojan Vuletić. The editor is Marko Ferković. The young cast features Jovan Ginić, Klara Hrvanović, Andjela Alavirević, Tihana Lazović Trifunović and Branislav Trifunović.The film comes from This and That Productions in co-production with Hit and Run Productions, Nightswim, Paul Thiltges Productions, Invictus and Kinorama. Bendita Film Sales is handling sales.