Slavko martinov is
an award-winning director, producer
and writer.
Sabineprogram was founded in 2012 by Slavko and award-winning cinematographer and editor, Mike Kelland, to launch their first feature film, Propaganda, which has been described as “1984 meets The Blair Witch Project”, “A mouthful of scary porridge”, and “Even better than Triumph of The Will” on its way to becoming a viral smash hit, topping Indiewire’s ‘top 10 films to watch out for’ at IDFA (world premiere), and winning awards including the Founders Grand Prize awarded by Michal Moore for Best Film at the Academy—qualifying Traverse City Film Festival in 2013.
Mike and Slavko’s films have since won critical acclaim both within New Zealand and internationally, premiering at Hot Docs, IDFA, Raindance, and Melbourne International Film Festivals, exhibited at the Goethe Institute, analyzed in books by Slavoj Zizek, in courses at Yale, Harvard and Cambridge, as well as being nominated for People’s Choice Awards, finalists in the Golden Trailers and numerous other awards.
Proudly and defiantly based in Ōtautahi, Christchurch, the most transformative, innovative city in Aotearoa New Zealand (and the world’s most resilient city according to The New York Times), Sabineprogram creates documentary films, narrative features, series, specials, creations and concepts that specialize in challenging the status quo with a devotion to always going slightly too far and taking risks in pursuit of the exceptional.
SABINEPROGRAM
Mike Kelland & Slavko Martinov
cATS IN CONFLICT
PROPAGANDA
“Genius” Michael Moore
“A surreal and twisted masterpiece” Der Spiegel
“A must-see film” Indiewire
“A masterpiece. The best piece of propaganda in a generation.” Films For Action
“Forget ‘Gangnam Style’, North Korean ‘Propaganda’ is the real viral hit of 2012.” The Independent
“Martinov has pulled off a marvel. He’s turned reality against itself, in content and in format, in order to present reality more clearly.” Huffington Post
“Jaw-dropping, mesmerising and skull-crunching.” Traverse City Film Festival
“Martinov has created a brilliant mythology. Think Triumph of the Will meets The Blair Witch Project.” Gabriel Mizrahi
“Written and directed by Kiwi filmmaker, Slavko Martinov, the movie’s claim of being a piece of real propaganda smuggled from North Korea exceeded its desired effect.” Vice
“This is more than a clever conceit. It’s important, imperfect, and wildly influential.” Spectrum Culture
PECKING ORDER
“Quirkily entertaining. A joy to watch.” The Guardian
“Charming, enjoyable and wonderfully eccentric.” Time Out
“Hilarious, twisty documentary.” Evening Standard UK
“Eye-opening and surprisingly effecting.” Total Film
“Warm and witty and generous and simply brilliant, this is about as fun and as entertaining as documentaries get.” Flickosopher
“Absolutely hilarious. One of the best documentaries of 2017.” Film and TV Now
“Entertaining, feel-good comedy.” The Sunday Times UK
“Slavko Martinov’s new documentary is both absorbing and very humorous.” Independent UK
“Highly entertaining, highly enjoyable, affectionate crowd pleaser. To the director and his team’s enduring credit, the gentle fun here never comes at the cost of any participant’s dignity. The story of human obsession is universal and, in Martinov’s hands, very accessible.” Screen Daily
“Hilarious!” The Times UK
“Hugely enjoyable.” Linda Marric
“Really delightful.” Little White Lies
“From director Slavko Martinov comes a quirky and unusual documentary approached with dignity and understanding. Pecking Order is a cracking documentary.” The Upcoming
BACKSTORY
I was born in Aotearoa New Zealand and raised in working class Linwood by a single mother of Jamaican descent who named me after a man I’ve never met, which meant growing up having to repeatedly explain that I wasn’t a communist spy and couldn’t go back to Russia because I was from here: Ōtautahi Christchurch.
On a positive note, this proved invaluable after the release of my first feature film, Propaganda, when I was actually accused of being a communist spy.
Honoured to be listed as a person of ‘low moral turpitude’ by Homeland Security, my high resistance to authority was formed at an early age when I earned a reputation as a trouble maker for relentlessly questioning the stories we were being told. Preferring to dress as a girl while attending a boys school probably didn’t help.
After studying Feminist Studies and Drama for five years at university, it took another ten years, facing death or jail in 2003, to finally give my dream of making films a go. But I couldn’t get into film school. So I just started writing.
Self-taught, self-funded, tenacious and always and looking for new trouble, my experiences are directly connected to a full slate of big, bold, beautiful, boundary pushing and uncompromising ideas that are distinctly Kiwi but entirely universal and ready to hit the ground running because, like you, I’ve got a lot of questions. I want answers. And we all need to be entertained…!
Love, Slavko (aka Sabine)
TEDx talk:
‘Lessons in Propaganda’
Ask Me anything
As you can see from the look on Santa’s face, I’ve always known that a provocative question can be worth more than an answer. And I look forward to answering yours.
(+64) 27 574 8448
slavko@sabineprogram.com