Iva Radivojevic

An essay in five parts, Evaporating Borders offers a series of vignettes, poetically guided by filmmaker Iva Radivojevic’s curious eye and personal reflections. Through the people she encounters along the way, the film dissects the experience of asylum seekers in Cyprus : A PLO activist and exile from Iraq is denied asylum within 15 minutes; neo-nazi fundamentalists roam the streets in an aPack on Muslim migrants; activists and academics organize an an5fascist rally and clash with the neo-nazis; 195 migrants drown in the Mediterranean.

Originally from Yugoslavia and an immigrant to Cyprus, Iva Radivojevic investigates the effects of large-scale immigration on the sense of national identity in one of the easiest ports of entry into Fortress Europe. Poetically photographed and rendered, the film passionately weaves the themes of migration, tolerance, identity and belonging.

Director’s Statement :::

“Originally from Yugoslavia, a country that no longer exists except in books and films, my family immigrated to Cyprus to escape political unrest. Raised in Cyprus, I’m approaching the film as a personal exploration of what it means to have a hybrid existence in which one is always searching for an identity.

The title Evaporating Borders corresponds to the idea that the erosion of boundaries and borders (both physical and metaphoric) defamiliarize the narratives of selfhood through which identities take shape and reproduce themselves. What is apparent in Cyprus is emblematic of hierarchical racial structures around the world, looking to cultures and peoples outside Western borders from a position of superiority.

The film explores the principles of inequality precipitated by certain cultures over others, classes against other classes, the concept of motherland, and an essentialized conception of identity.”

Credits :::
Writer, Director, Editor : Iva Radivojevic
Executive Producer : Laura Poitras
Producers : Landon Van Soest / Leandros Savvides
Co-Producer : Alex Primas
Consulting Editor : Jay Rabinowitz
Music By : Alexander Berne / Stian Westerhus / Sandy Brour / Monsieur Doumani
Cinematography : Iva Radivojevic

Iva Radivojevic is an award winning filmmaker who spent her early years in Yugoslavia and Cyprus before settling in NYC. Her work explores the theme of identity, migration and belonging. Iva’s films have screened at numerous film festivals and venues including SXSW, IFF Rotterdam, HotDocs, The Museum of Modern Art (MOMA), PBS and were published by the New York Times Op-Docs. Her collaborative film Matthew 24:14 won the 2011 Interna5onal Documentary Challenge competition for Best Director, Best Film and Best Use of Genre. Iva was named one of 25 New Faces of Independent Film of 2013 by Filmmaker Magazine and most recently in 2015 received a Guggenheim Fellowship . Her first feature length documentary Evaporating Borders, was nominated for an International Documentary Association (IDA) Award, a Cinema Eye Honors Spotlight Award, One World Media Award and is currently touring the world. Follow what she’s up to at www.ivaasks.com.