Secret Ingredient / Исцелител
Macedonia, Greece 2017

Vele lives in the outskirts of Skopje in an apartment with his father Sazdo who is terminally ill with lung cancer. Vele is trying to care for him but , in a country where health often proves to be a luxury, there are different routes to staying alive. Vele is a train mechanic on a very low wage and the medicines his father needs are too expensive to afford most of the time. Until one day he finds a hidden treasure in one of the wagons and decides to take things into his own hands and to help his father by baking him a “special” cake. This warm father-son story, balancing comedy and drama, opens a window onto a country, in Europe and not in Europe, apparently stuck in a never-ending transition. When hope becomes unaffordable, the only way to survive is with a dash of humour, your family and pals and, in this case, a cake with a special ingredient that starts with ‘M’. Hope certainly blossoms because, as soon as his father’s health miraculously improves, other elderly and ill people show up on Vele’s doorstep searching for “the healer” and the recipe for the cake with the special ingredient.

Macedonia's submission for the 2019 Academy Awards.

Awards

Tallinn Black Nights FF 2017 (First Features Competition)

Thessaloniki IFF 2017 (Audience Award)

LET'S CEE FF 2018 (Best Promising Debut)

Sofia IFF 2018 (Balkan Competition - Special Mention)

Bergamo Film Meeting 2018 (First Prize)