Ksenija’s personal and professional journey is hampered when Vera tests positive for Coronavirus and Ksenija must question how far she will bend to survive in a climate where political pressure is increasingly overt and can be said to capitalise on fear during the pandemic. The story centres on Ksenija (newcomer Mina Nikoli ć), a driven young woman striving to move from tabloid hack to a career journalist in a world of click-bait headlines and showbiz scandals cooked up to feed the masses. Set five years on from the school days of Stevan’s previous film Next to Me, a state of emergency exists and politicians are accused of capitalising on public anxiety around Covid-19, which makes the shocking situation that reunites the characters significantly more extreme. She was a mainstay in BBC’s Blackadder and appeared in The Life and Loves of a She Devil and the BBC’s The Real Marigold Hotel. The celebrated actress won a BAFTA for Scorsese’s The Age of Innocence ( Best Supporting Actress 1994), played Professor Sprout in two Harry Potter films and starred in Istvan Szabo’s Being Julia, alongside Barbra Streisand in Yentl and in Ladies in Lavender with Dames Smith and Dench. This is so much more than a lockdown movie.” “Thanks to Miriam and the entire cast and international crew. Everyone had to adapt but that added to the buzz. She saw the practical challenges as creative adventures and even learned a few lines in Serbian to add authenticity to the role, which was incredible. She brought honesty, depth and raw emotion to a complicated character. “Working with Miriam was a dream come true. Ironically, it took a global pandemic for it to happen as we could shoot in London and Belgrade without anyone having to leave home. Stevan said: “Since we met in London, I have been waiting for the right moment to build a story around Miriam and her remarkable presence. It’s not comfortable, but it’s authentic and I’d love to repeat the experience.” After moments of initial terror, I loved it I became aware of the politics informing the film, slowly I began to believe that, despite ‘lockdown’, I was really there, and my anxieties were grist to the mill.
But Stevan directed cunningly he knew how to coax and encourage.
“All filming is an act of faith this film required much more faith than usual. I knew nothing of ZOOM filming techniques, of the Serbian language, of the strangeness of acting with someone I didn’t know and couldn’t look at, of providing my own clothes and props using my home as a location. Miriam said: “Making my debut in a Serbian film in my 80th year was just a part of the wonder of this experience. Miriam Margolyes stars as Granny Vera, a British Yugo-phile who lives in Belgrade with her dog, Tito a role written especially for her by Stevan. Most of the action is seen via computers, mobile phones, tablets, webcams and surveillance cameras and the actors recorded themselves, often in their own homes. Shot within social distancing guidelines in Serbia and the UK, the film embraces the limitations of lockdown to craft a compelling movie in an unconventional way. Written and directed by acclaimed Serbian director Stevan Filipović (Skinning, Next to Me), Next to You is a murder mystery set during the Covid-19 pandemic about the emancipation and transformation of a young journalist in her struggle to find morals and integrity in a world that can seem increasingly populist. During that night, a generation that was written off before they were ever given a chance will learn more than they ever expected about themselves and their classmates.BAFTA-winning British actress Miriam Margolyes will make her Serbian debut in a contemporary lockdown thriller Next To You ( Pored Tebe) filmed in London and Belgrade. In order to solve the problem together, and with inability to leave the school, students begin to communicate. She takes away their mobile phones, and in the heat of the moment decides to lock them in the school building, also disconnecting the school phones and the internet. The next day Olja discovers that some of her students were responsible. They film the attack and upload the clip to YouTube. One night, a group of masked hooligans attacks her.
Olja is a high school history teacher, married to a painter whose latest exhibition provoked violent reactions from Serbian nationalists.