In collaboration with poet Aleksandar Šurbatović and composer Matija Anđelković, I created a 41-minute film that brings to life Lessons from the Forest, a poem and composition originally performed at the 2019 Great School Class manifestation.

The work was filmed in Šumarice Memorial Park, a site that carries the weight of memory and grief. The park stands on the grounds where the Kragujevac massacre took place in October 1941, when over 30,000 civilians were rounded up by occupying forces and thousands executed in retaliation. Among them were 2,264 people shot on October 21, including schoolchildren, teachers, and entire families.

This project approaches the tragedy not through direct reenactment but through a dialogue between poetry, music, and moving images. The forest itself becomes a witness, a living archive in which history echoes and silence speaks.
At 41 minutes, the film approximates the length of a school class. The slight incompleteness resonates with the very subject of the work: lessons interrupted, lives unfinished, time cut short.

At its core, The Great School Class seeks to preserve memory while questioning how trauma is carried forward across generations. By combining artistic disciplines, the film aims to blur the line between commemoration and creation, turning remembrance into an active, shared experience rather than a passive ritual.

Orchestra: VIS Nebograd I Production: “Kragujevac October” Memorial Park; City of Kragujevac; Radio Television Serbia