The film “Waiting for the Barbarians”, produced by Iervolino Entertainment, who have founded the company Iervolino Studios for the production of short animated films in Serbia earlier this year, is in the nomination process for the most prestigious film award – Academy Awards 2021.

This film is based on the novel of the same name by a South African Nobel laureate J.M. Coetzee, who also wrote the screenplay, while the director is a well-known Colombian director Ciro Guerra, in his first English language film. The main roles were trusted to famous actors Johnny Depp and Robert Pattinson, as well as to the Academy Award winner Mark Rylance.

The plot of the film “Waiting for the Barbarians” takes place on the borders of an imaginary oriental empire, and focuses on the eternal question of the relationship between the natives and the conquerors, “advanced civilization” and “barbarians”. In a seemingly quiet border area of the empire under the direction of an old Magistrate, played by Mark Rylance, controversial Colonel Joll (Johnny Depp) suddenly arrives, and with his brutality towards the natives, raises suspicion in the Magistrate and arouses the spirit of revolt against the regime which he is part of.

“The main reason that attracted me to this project is that the message of the book and the movie „Waiting for the Barbarians“ is timeless. Although the plot is not happening in the real world, everyone can relate to it – 40 years from now when the book was written, as well as today, said Andrea Iervolino, producer of the film and Director of the production company Iervolino Entertainment. „We are currently in the process of nominating the movie for the Academy Award and since it was shot in English, it would be in the run for awards in the main category, although it is officially an Italian film. Now we only need to prove to the world that the „Barbarians“ are special and different enough and therefore worthy of this prestigious award”, added Andrea Iervolino.

Iervolino Entertainment started working in Serbia after signing a Memorandum of Understanding with the Ministry of Economy of the Republic of Serbia and the production studio of our famous actor and producer Miloš Biković, Archangel Digital Studios.

“I liked the movie a lot and I wish Andrea all the luck in his run for the Oscar. „Waiting for the Barbarians“ is another example of the fact that Andrea is always trying to pass an important message with his movies, to make this world a better place“, said Miloš Biković. „I have no doubts that the projects we are working on together in Serbia will have the same success, although we are just in the beginning. What’s more, animated series „Puffins“, partially created in Serbia, was more popular than Disney on Apple TV during last week”, concluded Miloš Biković.

In just six months of its existence, Iervolino Studios today operates in two locations, in Novi Sad and Belgrade, and employs dozens of talented creatives – from storyboard artists, 3D and 2D animators, to graphic designers, editors and others. Iervolino Studios is already heavily involved in the production of animated short films for world markets, and one of the first projects in which it participated is the short-animated series “Puffins”, which is available on Apple TV and Amazon Prime digital platforms.