MOST Movie Event: VARIOLA VERA.

[Mrdjan M Mladjan]

Dear friends,

MOST (MIT Organization of Serbian sTudents) is
presenting you with a unique opportunity to see
a movie about the last smallpox outbreak in Europe.
The movie was specifically subtitled for MOST.


TITLE: Variola Vera,(1982)
DATE: Wednesday, April 30th, 2003
TIME: 7:30pm
PLACE: MIT Room 10-250
RUNTIME: 110 min.
LANGUAGE: Serbian with English subtitles
GENRE: Drama
DIRECTOR: Goran Markovic

As the possibility of a smallpox outbreak looms
ominously on the American horizon, VARIOLA VERA,
a chilling film about a mysterious virus that
spreads through Belgrade, serves as a prophetic
warning. After visiting a distant land, a pilgrim
returns to Yugoslavia with a sweet-sounding flute,
and with it a fatal, highly infectious disease
smallpox. Nearly comatose, the unfortunate traveler
is admitted to Belgrade General Hospital.Word of
the plague spreads wildly and the hospital is
entirely quarantined. VARIOLA VERA epidemic starts
to rage, tempting individuals as well as society.

A fascinating film inspired by Albert Camus' The
Plague, VARIOLA VERA raises the questions of borders,
containment, infection and the way a government makes
crucial, life-changing decisions without involving its
citizens, a consistent theme running through most of
Goran Markovic's work.

Questions? Please email Jelena Madic (jmadic at mit.edu).