The First...and the Last

The 84-year-old Kolj-Marko is the leader of the Malisori, inhabitants of Malesija, a hilly region in Montenegro. He is considered ‘a man of God’, whose word is law to the members of his clan. Despite his high age, he is still working every day around his house, that is made of rough-hewn stones. He builds brick walls, digs pits and lugs along boulders. When he takes a rest, his old eyes stare at the Cijevna river.Director Momir Matovic made a poetical portrait of this elderly man and his environment. Kolj-Marko and his wife seem to be alone in the rugged territory. The people are gradually leaving Malesija - more Malisori are currently living in the United States than in Montenegro. ‘In fifteen years from now nobody will be living in this canyon, except if America falls!’, Kolj-Marko says. To his sorrow, he does not have any children of his own.