‘Sticker’ Puts Underdog Against Police Brutality

“Sticker” might have been filmed in Macedonia, however throughout an American summer season marked by protests towards police brutality, its story a few father struggling towards paperwork and corrupt cops features a worldwide resonance.

But for director Georgi M. Unkovski, it wasn’t present occasions that impressed his movie, a finalist in TheWrap’s 2020 ShortChecklist Film Festival. It was his love of the underdog.

“I’m always fascinated by stories about people simply trying to get by but society set them up to fail,” Unkovski informed TheWrap. “I think what people really latch onto with this film is how we as individuals have to struggle against these huge bureaucratic forces.”

“Sticker” follows Dejan, a beleaguered father attempting to get to his daughter’s dance recital…solely to finish up in an escalating disaster because of a easy workplace error. Stumbling via an overcrowded DMV workplace, he’s informed that the workplace has run out of stickers for automobile registration. Despite being assured by a dismissive clerk that the police know they’re out of stickers, Dejan quickly finds himself pulled over by a cop looking for a assassin and plunged right into a world of regulation enforcement that isn’t significantly taken with defending or serving.

Unkovski says that the story began with the minor irritation of auto registration renewal, however says he was shocked by what number of viewers who’ve seen his movie had been in a position to personally empathize with that frustration. “I was surprised to find that even people in the U.S. were able to identify with his struggle,” he stated. “The first scene is taken as-is from real life. Everybody here [in Macedonia] has their own stories about struggling with bureaucracy.”

Unkovski additionally acknowledges that the worldwide Black Lives Matter protests put Dejan’s abuse by the hands of police in a brand new context, even when “Sticker” isn’t a movie about racist police violence.

“We weren’t even thinking about such issues when we were shooting, but ironically it’s been a fitting year for our film to come out,” he says. “Obviously, once you put a film out it stops just belong to you, but there are stories of injustice everywhere and its easy to connect to them. I think a lot of people feel alone in fights against injustice and I like exploring that in my films.”

Watch the movie above. Viewers may also display the movies at any time throughout the pageant at Shortlistfilmfestival.com and vote from Aug. 6-19.