The Optimists(Movie, 2006)

The Optimists (Serbian Cyrillic: Оптимисти) is a 2006 Serbian black comedy film directed by Goran Paskaljević. The film, presented as five unrelated narrative sequences, was inspired by Voltaire's 1759 satirical novel Candide. The Optimists features an ensemble cast of Serbian actors with Lazar Ristovski appearing in all five stories. The film premiered at the 2006 Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) and was subsequently screened at several other film festivals, earning multiple awards. The 51st Valladolid International Film Festival named Ristovski Best Actor, and the film won the Youth Jury Award and the Golden Spike award as the best film of the festival. The Optimists was included as part of a retrospective exhibition on director Paskaljević at the Museum of Modern Art in 2008. ()