The Golden Sledgehammer – Slaughter Festival 2025
The jury of the 4th Slaughter Festival, composed of Jovan Ristić (President), and members Marko Pišev and Arpad Slančik, has unanimously decided to award the Small Sledgehammer (Mala Macola) prize to the animated film KRALJ NIČEGA (THE KING OF NOTHING), directed by Aleksa Gajić and written by Nenad Džoni Racković. The film is recognized for its highly stylized and uncompromising horror-cyberpunk depiction of present-day Belgrade – reduced to filth, landfills, and the dying remnants of a better past. Its aging protagonist, a member of the rock ‘n’ roll generation, fights the all-consuming entropy around and within him. In despair and rage, he transforms into a super anti-hero, and even after realizing that the world he once belonged to can no longer be saved, he still raises a fist of defiance, refusing to see himself as a loser. For those who don’t understand what rock ‘n’ roll truly means at its core, THE KING OF NOTHING will teach them – because its “nothing” embodies everything worth living for, no matter how decayed and dying it may appear. Without that “nothing,” nothing else has meaning.
The jury also awards a Special Mention to BVX-29 by Goran Jovanović. Fully aware of his limited budget, the director adopted a minimalist approach to visuals and dialogue, placing all his focus on story and suspense – gripping the viewer from the very first frame.
Finally, the jury has unanimously awarded the Grand Prize, the Golden Sledgehammer (Zlatna Macola), to PAS BOŽJI (DOG OF GOD) by the Abel Brothers. This film distinguishes itself – not only within this year’s lineup but among genre cinema in general – through a unique combination of content and form. It skillfully blends mythology, folklore, religion, psychological study, and a meticulous reconstruction of the rural culture of late medieval Northern Europe, crafting a fully immersive and convincingly rendered world. The film is shot using the visually striking technique of rotoscope animation, which gives the characters a tangible realism while allowing room for well-integrated, brilliantly conceived, and above all, original fantastical elements. These allow the narrative to delve deep into archetypes, magic, transgression, taboo, and moments of sheer dread. Narratively complex and hermetic, DOG OF GOD possesses all the traits of a tale drawn from the depths of the collective unconscious – at once deeply specific and universally resonant. It reminds us, through its singular narrative, of the many ways in which a person’s rare virtues can be exploited, perverted, and ultimately suppressed in a world without mercy.