ERGOT

KJ, a strict and controlling boss, runs the night shift at a wheat mill. Secretly, he struggles with grief over his lost child, holding onto a small wheat doll as a symbol. As a result of a bad harvest, wheat infected with a fungus is milled and eaten in the form of rye bread. As the night progresses strange hallucinations take on KJ. To his shock the lifeless wheat doll starts growing and assumes the likeness of a wheat demon. KJ tries to suppress this, but the creature disobeys him and disappears into the mill. From here on we follow KJ, slowly losing his sanity, trying to find the wheat doll, while fighting his workers, themselves experiencing hallucinations. By the end of the story KJ, faced by the wheat demon, is forced to confront his grief and the terrible environment he created. With this horrible realisation KJ sets himself and the mill on fire, ending the cycle of control and freeing himself.

Director’s statement
My grandfather worked as a foreman at the flour mill in Kanjiza, Serbia.
He was a very strict and controlling man in his job, which extended into his personal life. His rules and opinions formed a system of control around him that has left a lasting impact on me, and sometimes, I recognize traces of him in my own behavior.
In my film, the modern industrial mill becomes a symbol of control. It is a cold, mechanical environment where my protagonist, KJ, thrives. KJ embodies humanity's obsession with control, meticulously organizing his life within the mill's rigid structure. However, beneath this facade lies unresolved grief—a hidden wound he is unable to resolve. This mirrors our fractured relationship with nature, rooted in our desire to dominate and control it.
My film explores humanity's connection to nature, our need for control, and the consequences of ignoring the uncontrollable forces within and around us.