Cyndi Lauper on the set with production coordinator Srdjan Stojilkovic

Cyndi Lauper in Belgrade

By Rada Djurica

A few months ago, right after Kosovo Independence, Belgrade in Serbia hosted David Thornton, a big-budget actor and husband of the pop diva from the '80s, Cyndi Lauper. The film Here and There, shot in New York and Belgrade, will be released in Fall 2008 and right now isin post-production. The film's big names, along with David Thornton and Cindy Lauper, included internationally recognized Serbian actress Mirjana Karanovic and Serbian actor Branislav Trifunovic.

The director of this film, Darko Lungulov, is a Serb living in New York. His previous film, Escape, received the Audience Award at the Hamptons International Film Festival in the United States.

Here And There has been awarded a production grant from the city of Belgrade's Film Fund, as well as receiving a Balkan Fund script development award at the Thessaloniki International Film Festival in Greece.

              David Thornton

"It is definitely much easier to penetrate the big-budget film scene if you are in L.A.
Many people have done it, moved to L.A. for that. New York is good for low-budget and independent filmmaking, which is great: a lot of talent, a lot of love and enthusiasm for filmmaking," Darko Lungulov said.

Lungulov studied in New York and received a B.A. in film and video from the City College of New York. While there, Lungulov met legendary New York independent producer Jim Stark (who produced the Jim Jarmush films Down by Law, Night on Earth, and Mystery Train, as well as Alexandre Rockwell's In the Soup). Jim Stark loved the script and immediately called a few distinguished New York actors and recommended they join the project. After a long, tough process David Thornton was selected to complete a great on-screen couple with Mirjana Karanovic, who was already cast in the lead female role. David Thornton suggested that his wife, Cyndi Lauper, could write a song for the film, and she also accepted an on-screen role. The lyrics of her song were inspired by Lungulov's script.

According to film director Lungulov, Lauper and Thornton are terrific to work with, both very funny, very warm. During the shooting, Cyndi joked around a lot, but she also showed serious interest in learning where Lugulov got the inspiration for the story and the characters. David Thornton, meanwhile, told me he had a great time in Belgrade (where I met him), and it seemed this was an emotional experiences for him. Thornton and Lauper both talked about integrity of the film in interviews. Although, it is not yet known if her song for the film will be included on Cyndi Lauper's new record.

Branislav Trifunovic and David Thornton