Yelena Popovic, the director of the film ”Man of God”: Somewhere along the way I left my life behind and died

The story of the most beautiful film about faith, ”Man of God”, which is not a religious film, told by its director, Yelena Popovic, to Q Magazine.

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MY FATHER LIKE THE SAINT…

Floriana Jucan: Before it became a movie it was just an idea. How was this idea born?

Yelena Popovic: I bought the book about St. Nektarios in Belgrade in 2012. It was month of July. I was finally able to travel to Serbia after many years, as my U.S immigration status got resolved. I arrived for the one-year memorial of my father passing away. I loved and admired my father a lot. He, like St. Nektarios was a righteous man who was persecuted because of it. He was a civil engineer, one of the best known in the country.

At the beginning he had a promising career but since he was not willing to further his career unethically, he was hated by those who were willing to do anything for profit. As he was a leading engineer in a company that was responsible for building most of the roads and infostructure in Yugoslavia, they had to devise a cunning plan to get rid of him. They waited for the extremely windy day and ordered him to finish the work on one of the highways. That would entail for him to send a worker to climb very high on one of the polls which would endanger the life of the worker. My father refused to do that and they brought him to court. They then brough six false witnesses who testified against him. As a result, he lost his job. For a long time, he was jobless. Finally, he got a job in a factory in the suburb where he earned very modest salary.

A man who refused homes and villas at the leading resorts in the country and who was not willing to steal was now punished for it. He worked in the factory until he retired. He helped the university students pass the hardest exams in math, physics and statics in engineering – free of charge. He wrote many books on statics in engineering. He was often criticized for being too honest and too righteous but I admired him for that. His fate probably had a lot to do with me leaving Yugoslavia in search of better life.

One would think he was unhappy, but he wasn’t. He was always content. I remember him saying: ”When I go to bed, I sleep peacefully”. 

When I read Psalm 4, I always remember him: ”You have put gladness in my heart. More than in the season that their grain and wine increased, I will both lie down in peace and sleep” (Psalm 4 – 7,8). 

Naturally when my father passed away and when I was in Belgrade a year later, he was very much on my mind. Then I bought THE BOOK, the Life of Saint Nektarios and when I read it, it+ was as if I was struck by lightning. I felt as if every word of it was written in my soul. I thought that the story of Saint Nektarios had to be made into a movie and I decided to write the script and direct it.

Were you a religious person before this movie?

As far as I can remember I always believed in God. I don’t remember anyone talking to me about it. My parents were not religious people. I was not even baptized.  Most probably because my mother was a teacher in a public school, she did not see to it. At that time people that had faith were ridiculed and discriminated against. However, I did tell my patents that I will get baptized on my own one day and I did that when I was 21 years old in Los Angeles in the Serbian Orthodox Church.

After my first confession and Holy Communion when I was 25, I embarked on the most important battle of my life, the battle for my soul. 

Has there been a change in your way of thinking, believing, relating to God after this movie?

Somewhere down the line I had left my life behind and I had died. Excruciating emotional pain, unbearable struggles, betrayal, slander and prolonged suffering can do that to you.

It all culminated in the beginning of April of 2016 in Belgrade and the tunnel of hell was formed  by which I travelled to Greece. That summer in Greece I walked to church every morning to pray so that I could compose myself and not fall apart. Sobbing was reserved for the night when no one could hear me.

It was then that my death was complete, my old self has been disseminated and as a bare newborn infant I embarked on making a film about the subject so familiar and so dear to me.

My dear Lord Jesus, the One Who never left me or betrayed me, has made a clean slate in my soul. It was precisely than that the miracle of making the film ‘Man of God’ had started. After the film was finished, I can say that I have experienced peace that I did not know before.

THE MAN WHO MADE THIS MOVIE POSSIBLE

You told me that this movie was made with difficulty, with little resources and moments of miraculous donations, just when you had no hope. Please tell us about these moments, what were you thinking and how you went from hopelessness to belief?

Before we started the production, I went to the monastery of Saint Nektarios in Aegina to get the blessing. The abbess Timothea gave me the blessing and before I left, she said that I will have many difficulties but not to worry for St. Nektarios will help me because he wants the film to be made. It played out very much like that.

Abbot Efraim from the Holy Monastery of Vatopedy Photo Silviu Cluci

The man who made possible for this film to be made is Abbot Efraim from the Holy Monastery of Vatopedy. The abbot Efraim believed in the film and fought for it. He found the majority of the investors which enabled us to start and finish the production.

John Kynigopoulos of Eurogrop, Giannis Avgerinos of Deep Dream, The Holy Metropolis of Mesogaia, Ingenuity-FO and NP and Minetta Insurance had helped us to complete the financing.

Making ”Man of God” was a challenge on many levels because we didn’t have all the funds at once and with the pandemic it just made things more difficult. We were doing our best but many times we were facing end of the production in which case the film would have fallen apart. It was very difficult to go through that. I had a huge responsibility to finish the film and not to let down all the people that had worked on it; the actors, the crew, our Greek producer Kostas Lambropoulos who knew of the difficulties but still stood by us, for which I am very grateful.

On a few occasions we found out at the very last moment that we were receiving the funds needed to carry on. It was a miracle how it all worked out.

Another miracle was that no one on the set contracted the virus for the duration of the shooting. As abbess said, it will be hard but it will all work out at the end for St. Nektarios was truly with us. I felt His presence!

St Nektarios paint by Ciprian Istrate

What is the role of this movie in today’s world?

Before I went into production, I often said that I want to make a film to help those who suffer the most. After many testimonials from different people, it seems that the film is helping people, that it has a healing quality. This makes me very happy.  I will share with you a testimony that moved me deeply. A year ago, I had received an email from a lady who had interview me. She is not an Orthodox Christian. She felt compelled to write to me that she had lost her husband from cancer and that she was devastated. She said that their daughter was the only reason she was still alive. She said that she did not have a desire to live anymore until after she saw ”Man of God”. She thanked me for the film that gave her hope and the will to continue to live.

The example of St. Nektarios is an important one nowadays. His love, forgiveness and humility can teach us a lot. Nowadays humility is almost forgotten, often viewed as weakness. Contrary to modern beliefs, humble people are strong and confident and have the courage to fight. The world without humility and forgiveness can turn into hatred and chaos and lead to instabilities and wars. Unfortunately, we’re already seeing catastrophic results of self-righteousness, hatred, lack of forgiveness and humility.

Yelena Popovic and Aris Servetalis Photo Marilena Anastasiadou

DISNEY VERSUS FAITH

Disney invested 180 million dollars in a movie whose main character is a LGBT person and had the worst earnings in the company’s history. Your movie, made with 1,400,000 euros, was a box office success and was praised by critics, even in progressive America. How do you explain this phenomenon?

My film was made for less than two million. I did my best to make a film that is as human and honest as possible. My main goal was to bring St, Nektarios to people’s hearts.

The fact that this is the first film made about Orthodox Christian Saint that was distributed worldwide and gained success in the countries that are not Orthodox Christian must be contributed to Saint Nektarios.

Who did you hope would help you and didn’t?

Originally the film was supposed to be financed as a co-production between Greece, Serbia and Croatia. Unfortunately, because of the ‘religious subject’ Greek Film Center could not green light the picture. I’m not saying anything against people that work there. European Film Centers are funded by the master who is very clear that the projects that speak of faith and God are not to be funded or promoted.

Where did you shoot the movie?

 The whole film was shot in seven weeks in Athens’s area and two days in Aegina.

Have you interacted with Saint Nektarios until this movie? Or after? How?

Ever since I went to Aegina to the monastery of Saint Nektarios for the first time, in 2013, I feel that he is present and very much alive. I feel like he is my father, my brother, my best friend.

What do you wish for the future?

In my professional life I hope that I will be able to write and direct a few more films. I am also working on expanding our production compony Simeon Entertainment. The plan is to have a subsidiary Simeon Faith which will focus on producing the films like ”Man of God”. In my personal life I hope that I will continue to fight the good fight and have peace.

The scene during the filming on the island of Aegina Photo Marilena Anastasiadou

THROUGH THE CEMETERY OF MY MIND

Western churches have become more tourist attractions and concert halls. Do you think we are facing the same danger?

I hope not. On this subject, please allow me to express the following. The most important thing about our church is to preserve the truth and the mysteries. In the old times, the very early times of Christianity people would gather wherever they could to worship God and to receive the Holy Communion. Despite all of that the church was very much alive because the church is the body of Christ, His people. The faithful are the church. Who knows, the way things are going, the ones who are truly hungry for Christ might have to go back to catacombs.

You are of Serbian origin and live in Greece, at the same time a cosmopolitan person who travels and spends a lot of time in the West. How do you think Orthodoxy makes the difference between the two worlds?

 If I think about that aspect of my life my story is quite unique. I was born in Serbia in an Orthodox country but while I was living in Serbia, I knew nothing about Orthodox Christian faith. I did not know who Jesus Christ was, who the Mother of God was. I knew who Saint Nicholas was as my father’s family celebrated the saint for hundreds of years. I found out about who Jesus was when I went to the U.S. I was given the bible in Miami by two homeless men who were preaching the Gospel on the streets. I was nineteen years old then. After reading the Bible I fell in love with Jesus. When I was 25 years old, I had my first confession and the Holy Communion in the Serbian Orthodox Church in Los Angeles. After taking the Eucharist I experienced a presence of grace that lasted for hours. I remember laughing and crying at the same time and I remember my friend saying: ”Finally Yelena got drunk!” I wasn’t drunk on alcohol. She couldn’t understand that. I couldn’t really explain what was going on, but that was a point of no return for me.

I entered a liturgical life and the battle that will last until the very end. I was very lucky to have met Abbott Efraim of Arizona, current abbot Paisios and that I was going to St. Anthony’s monastery in Arizona on a regular basis for fifteen years. I had great examples of true Orthodox fathers and as a beginner in Orthodoxy I was very fortunate to receive and see the truth from those who lived it. Abbot Efraim has built nineteen Orthodox Christian Monasteries across the U.S. and Canada. There is a huge number of people in the West that are hungry for the truth and are becoming Orthodox. To quote a famous phrase: ”Orthodoxy is a best kept secret in the West”. As the world, especially the western world, is becoming more secular, different Christian denominations are becoming more secular too. For this reason, there is a huge exodus from Christianity and other faiths in general. However, a lot of people are seeking the truth and are gravitating towards something that is more tangible; more experiential and less dry and only logical. This is why people are gravitating towards Orthodoxy. 

I am currently in Greece and I am enjoying the incredible treasures of Orthodoxy that this country, where the apostles have walked and preached, has to offer. I am truly blessed to experience that. But it all comes down to that personal relationship with God. I have seen many people here in Greece and in Serbia who are not believers despite all the Holy things that they have inherited and have been born into, and I have seen converts to Orthodoxy in the West that I have been humbled by.

I must say that I was very humbled and moved by the piousness and faith of people in Romania.

 Do you blame yourself for something?

When I look back on my life there are things that if I had a chance to go back I would definitely do them differently. In all honesty I can write a book on what not to do. But, as I said in the beginning, I’m waging the battle for my soul. In that battle the key things are constant repentance and forgiveness. To scroll through the graveyard of my mind in that context would be pride and self-indulgence.

Who do you think is the providential person/man of this project, of this movie?

My father.   

Thank you for this discussion, I hope I have made up from the night of the Movie Preview, at Park Lake cinema in Titan, when we were supposed to meet, when it would have seemed normal and logical for me to come and express my impressions of the film, but, crying and being overwhelmed, I left the hall, saying to you through tears: I am sorry, I am speechless now!

I think that impressed me more than anything you could have told me! It was, probably without you realizing it, the nicest compliment for me as a director. Your tears were more than words!

The ”Man of God” is a critically acclaimed international blockbuster based on the life of Saint Nektarios.

• The highest grossing film in Greece in 2021 

• Top 5 highest grossing film in U.S. on March 21 & 28 for 2-night showings on 800 screens nationwide 

• 14 award wins & 12 nominations

• 600.000 theatrical tickets sold internationally across U.S., Greece, France, Serbia, Australia, Russia, Romania, UK, Germany, Austria, Benelux, Switzerland, Sweden and Norway

Featuring Oscar Nominated actor, MICKEY ROURKE Photo Foto Simeon Entertainment

• WOMAN writer/director 

• Film SOUNDTRACK composed by 2 times French Cesar WINNER Zbigniew Preisner with SPECIAL performance by Golden Globe WINNER Lisa Gerrard 

• IMDb Rating: 7.2/10 & Rotten Tomatoes: 94% 

• Key Cast 
• Aris Servetalis – Apples (2020), The Waiter (2018), Alps (2011)
• Alexander Petrov – Attraction I & II, Ice I & II, Text (2019)
• Mickey Rourke– The Wrestler (2008), Iron Man 2 (2010), 9 ½ Weeks (1987)