Statistics show that in Russia, over the course of a typical career, each train operator will inadvertently kill eight to 10 people; in Serbia, apparently, the number might be double that figure (commuters in metropolitan cities like London and New York will shrug at this news.) In Milos Radović's deadpan black comedy, the Todorović clan-train drivers for generations-keeps a respectful running body count, and visit the graves from time to time. Grouchy old Ilija (28 kills!) knows it's not "if" but "when" his son Sima will run over a suicide, and the lad knows it too. It's a foreboding that complicates his apprenticeship, and the old man resolves to make it easier on him...

A film about the dark at the end of the tunnel, Train Driver's Diary is produced by and stars veteran Serbian actor Lazar Ristovski, who also co-produced and appears in Croatia's Oscar® submission On the Other Side, also showing at this year's festival.

Winner: Audience Award, Moscow