Serbia, 2008, 85 min.A documentary about a native music phenomenon Ekatarina Velika, directed by Dusan Vesic, shows the rising and the fall of a significant band. The film was at first shown in four episodes of a series, and after that the author created a complex film about the identity of a culturally, musically and socially significant band for SFR Yugoslavia.
EKV – As it Once Was re-examines the whole period, its social constitution and the system, sketching difficult characteristics and mentality of people. The documentary deals with the problem and raises the question of addiction, through re-examining the influence of the regime, it shows us intimate confessions of friends and co-workers of the band, who were with them in their most difficult times, with various, often heartbreaking, audio-visual records. You don’t need to be a fan of this band’s sound to feel the sincere emotion of the film, the love, the respect, and the condolence in grief caused by the loss of four young, and above all, extremely talented members of the EKV band.
