Alone on a small island in Belgrade, a father grieves his daughter in quiet solitude

Adem lives alone on Ada Međica, a small island on the River Sava in Belgrade, Serbia. Surrounded by greenery and calm water, there’s a gentle beauty to the rhythms of his everyday life. But, between walking his dog, picking roses and riding his small boat, he also finds himself revisiting the past – as one often does after the loss of a beloved family member to suicide. In Adem’s Island, the Serbian filmmaker Ivana Todorović tracks moments in the life of a man carrying on after the death of his daughter. Along with the Croatian cinematographer Maša Drndić, Todorović uses long takes and natural lighting to capture the passing of time as Adem goes about his daily tasks, and shares drinks and music with friends, while quietly mourning. Throughout, Adem’s sparse narration captures how grief unpredictably and inevitably creeps in, and how there are some wounds time can never quite heal.