''Guardians of the Formula'' (

Serbian Serbian may refer to: * someone or something related to Serbia, a country in Southeastern Europe * someone or something related to the Serbs, a South Slavic people * Serbian language * Serbian names See also

* * * Old Serbian (disambiguat ...

: ''Čuvari formule,'' Serbian Cyrillic: ''Чувари формуле'') is a 2023

* * * Old Serbian (disambiguat ...

drama film directed by Dragan Bjelogrlić and written by Vuk Ršumović. It is based on the novel ''The Case of Vinča'' by

Goran Milašinović Goran may refer to: Ethnic groups *Gorane, or Goran, an ethnic group of northern Africa *Goran (Kurdish tribe), an ethnic group of the Middle East *Gorani (ethnic group), an ethnic group of the southeastern Europe Other uses *Göran, a Swedis ...

, who was also a collaborator on the screenplay. The film follows the aftermath of the 1958 reactor incident at Vinča Nuclear Institute and the subsequent treatment of irradiated Yugoslav physicists at the Curie Institute in Paris, which involved the first bone marrow grafts between unrelated donors and hosts ever made in the world.

Plot

In the midst of the

Cold War The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...

crisis in October 1958, a group of scientists at the Vinča Nuclear Institute implemented a secret project led by professor Dragoslav Popović. Due to unforeseen circumstances, they are exposed to a lethal dose of radiation and are taken by the Yugoslav secret police to the Curie clinic in Paris for treatment. The French medical team led by professor Georges Mathé concludes that their condition is critical and that their days are numbered. Although Mathé has dedicated his whole life to fighting against the possession of nuclear weapons and deeply despises the project which the Yugoslav scientists worked on, he proposes to carry out, for the first time in history, the delicate and uncertain intervention of replacing the bone marrow of irradiated patients.

Cast

* Radivoje Bukvić as Dragoslav Popović *

Alexis Manenti Alexis Manenti (born 12 February 1982) is a French actor and screenwriter, most noted for the 2019 film '' Les Misérables''. He was the winner of the César Award for Most Promising Actor at the 45th César Awards,Melanie Goodfellow"César awa ...

as Doctor Mathé * Ognjen Mićović as Života Vranić * Jovan Jovanović as Radojko Maksić * Alisa Radaković as Rosa * Lionel Abelanski as Doctor Jame * Jérémie Laheurte as Leon Schwarzenberg *

Olivier Barthélémy Olivier Barthélémy (born 29 October 1979 in Munich,Germany) is a French actor. Notable titles are Sheitan (film), Sheitan (2006), Largo Winch II (2011) and Discount (film), Discount (2014). Filmography Films *2005 – ''Sheitan (film), Sheitan' ...

as Derval *

Miki Manojlović Predrag "Miki" Manojlović ( sr-cyr, Предраг "Мики" Манојловић; born 5 April 1950) is a Serbian actor, famous for his starring roles in some of the most important films of former Yugoslav cinema. Since the early 1990s, he su ...

as Pavle Savić * Dragan Bjelogrlić as Leka Ranković *

Anne Serra Anne, alternatively spelled Ann, is a form of the Latin female given name Anna. This in turn is a representation of the Hebrew Hannah, which means 'favour' or 'grace'. Related names include Annie. Anne is sometimes used as a male name in the N ...

as Odette Draghi * Jean-Louis Coulloc'h as Raymond * Cédric Appietto as Pabion * Maja Čampar as Vera * Jurij Drevešenk as Aleš Babnik * Arnaud Humbert as Doctor 2 * Ana Blagojević as Mrs. Mathé * Pierre-François Garde as Donor 1 * Stanislava Jeftić as Sister Tijamet * Jérôme-Henri Cailleux as Donor 2 * Jean-Baptist Demarigny as Doctor 1 * Nikola Kmirnac as Paskal * Loren Rui as Gardener * Jovana Knežević as Sister Emili * Sara Novak as Doctor Simone * Nebojša Rako as Odette's husband * Laurent Rouy as Gardener *

Predrag Lukić Predrag ( sr-cyr, Предраг) is a Slavic masculine given name, predominantly borne by ethnic Slavs, derived from ''pre-'' ("very, much") and '' -drag'' ("dear, beloved"), both common in Slavic dithematic names. It roughly means "very beloved" ...

Production

Filming lasted for about a year at authentic locations in Serbia, Slovenia and France in the period between 2022 and 2023.

Release

The world premiere of the film was held on August 4, 2023 at the

Locarno Film Festival The Locarno Film Festival is an annual film festival, held every August in Locarno, Switzerland. Founded in 1946, the festival screens films in various competitive and non-competitive sections, including feature-length narrative, documentary, s ...

in Switzerland as part of the prestigious Piazza Grande program, where it won two awards: the Variety Award for best film in the selection Piazza Grande and the Green Leopard Award given to films with the most compelling message. On August 15, 2023, the film was screened out of competition as part of the main program of the 29th Sarajevo Film Festival, while the premiere in Serbia was held on October 24, 2023. The film has been seen by 100,000 viewers in Serbian cinemas as of November 9th, 2023.

References

External links

* *{{Rotten Tomatoes, m/guardians_of_the_formula, Guardians of the Formula Cold War films Serbian historical drama films Serbian drama films 2020s Serbian-language films 2020s French-language films 2023 films 2023 multilingual films Serbian multilingual films 2023 drama films Films set in 1957 Films based on historical novels Films set in Yugoslavia Films set in France Films shot in Serbia