Some films start with opening credits. Some start with a dramatic orchestra. This one starts with a scream – and then happily refuses to explain itself for almost eight minutes.
Welcome to the “Kruskovac jam,” also billed as “The afternoon dance,” a proudly indie “samy entertainment production” starring NiNA and Alex, with a cameo from Vladi. The title cards roll out an impressive list of collaborators: Best Partisani, Untitled Monsters, Buzludzha Films and Samy Entertainment. And then there’s the date on screen: August 23, 2055.
Wait. 2055?
Clues from the future
Let’s collect the evidence. After that opening scream, the camera cuts to the Buzludzha monument in Bulgaria – the famous concrete structure on a mountaintop that looks exactly like a UFO that decided to retire in the Balkans. If you wanted to suggest a film had arrived from another time, you couldn’t pick a better landmark.
Next, the story moves to a park picnic table, where NiNA and Alex dance around the benches like the afternoon has no end. NiNA rocks shiny black wetlook leggings and high heels – on grass, which deserves an award of its own.
Then comes a segment called “fun with Nina,” with NiNA in a red top dancing next to a row of colourful dumpsters, turning the least glamorous corner of town into a pop-art backdrop. After that, the film slows down for its centrepiece: NiNA’s long solo dance on a forest path, dressed in a shiny black outfit, trees all around and nobody rushing her.
The secret is revealed
So what is the secret behind the mysterious Kruskovac jam and its impossible date? Here’s the reveal: this jam isn’t something you spread on toast, and the film didn’t travel back from 2055. It’s a jam in the musical sense – a free-form creative session among friends – and the future date is a wink. The crew is joking that this little afternoon dance is so ahead of its time that it belongs in another decade.
The credits confirm the playful spirit. Grand-sounding studio names, a production credit named after Buzludzha and, of course, the closing proclamation: “and the OSCAR goes to NiNA.” No red carpet needed. The film then signs off with its most honest title card of all: “the happy end.”
That’s the charm of indie jams like this. There is no big budget, just friends, a camera, a UFO-shaped monument and plenty of enthusiasm. Want more of the universe behind it? The credits point to samy.info and UntitledMonsters.com.
So, will we still be watching in 2055? Judging by that Oscar moment, NiNA certainly plans on it.
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