Simo od Crne Gore / Simo of Montenegro

APartisan at the age of fourteen, Simo went on to become the Chief of UDBA in Montenegro, the communist party’s secret police for the small mountainous republic. His responsibility was counterintelligence and the protection of the Big Boss, Josip Broz Tito. What made him do what he did and why does he continue to touch the lives of so many even twenty years after his premature and dubious death?
This film seeks to reach out and touch a man the film-maker never met yet never stopped hearing about, thinking about and feeling the powerful presence of. The secret police chiefs were described as “Little Gods” serving communist Yugoslavia’s “ Big God” and protecting this diverse multitude of languages, religious faiths and historical experiences from the enemies real and perceived, within and without. How far did Simo go to protect his Yugoslavia during his day and where would he have stood in the wars that eventually destroyed his
utopia? Would he today stand up and be counted as a Montenegrin, a Communist, a Yugoslav or a man who just did what he thought was the right thing?

Source: Website Atelier Varan Belgrade; http://www.varan.org.yu/films/SimoOfMontenegro