IL GENIO is the story of Dejan Savićević a football maverick who rose from the magic of Yugoslav football into Berlusconi’s AC Milan machine, carrying the spirit of the game against the collapse of a nation and the transformation of football itself.

Dejan Savićević was the football’s purest, most untamed vision. His career began in Titograd, on the fringes of a vast country, and rose through Red Star Belgrade. Playing with an ease that defied effort, he became a central figure in the team that won the European Cup in 1991, the first and last time a club from Yugoslavia would lift that trophy. But it was also the year Yugoslavia began to break apart, not just as a state, but as a story in which millions believed. Due to the war, the national team he belonged to was expelled from the 1992 European Championship, and the socialist country that had shaped him descended into chaos. Already the recipient of the Silver Ball award, Savićević signed for AC Milan, whose owner, Silvio Berlusconi, had begun radically reshaping the very nature of football, just after he had radically reshaped the TV landscape of Italy. Savićević abruptly became part of a different system. His clash with coach Fabio Capello turned into an open battle of spirit versus mechanical perfection. Berlusconi protected him in a conflict that lasted two years, believing that players like Dejan could create a true emotional bond with the public. Berlusconi’s instinct proved right: even with limited playing time, Savićević earned the nickname Il Genio. Before the decisive Champions League final in Athens 1994, Berlusconi told him: “If you are a genius, show it.” The opponent was Barcelona, led by the legendary Johan Cruyff – and in that match, Savićević would define his status forever. This film follows Savićević as a figure who survives eras collapsing and transforming while remaining true to himself. Through archival footage, personal narratives, and a dramatic wider social context, it intertwines the story of Yugoslavia’s disintegration, where football was becoming a tool for nationalistic propaganda, with the parallel rise of Berlusconi’s Italy – a country its most powerful man was remaking in his own image, using the game for his political uprise.

IL GENIO je priča o Dejanu Savićeviću, fudbalskom buntovniku koji je iz čarolije jugoslovenskog fudbala dospio u Berluskonijevu mašineriju Milana, noseći duh igre kroz raspad jedne države i preobražaj samog fudbala.

Dejan Savićević bio je najčistija, najneukroćenija vizija fudbala. Karijeru je započeo u Titogradu, na rubovima velike zemlje, a uzdigao se kroz Crvenu zvezdu. Igrajući s lakoćom koja je prkosila naporu, postao je ključna figura tima koji je 1991. osvojio Kup evropskih šampiona - prvi i posljednji put da je jedan klub iz Jugoslavije podigao taj trofej. Ali to je bila i godina kada je Jugoslavija počela da se raspada, ne samo kao država, već i kao priča u koju su milioni vjerovali. Zbog rata, reprezentacija kojoj je pripadao izbačena je sa Evropskog prvenstva 1992, dok je socijalistička zemlja koja ga je oblikovala tonula u haos. Već tada dobitnik Srebrne lopte, Savićević je potpisao za Milan, čiji je vlasnik, Silvio Berluskoni, upravo počeo da radikalno mijenja samu prirodu fudbala, nakon što je na sličan način preoblikovao italijanski medijski pejzaž. Savićević je naglo postao dio drugačijeg sistema. Njegov sukob s trenerom Fabiom Kapelom prerastao je u otvorenu borbu duha protiv mehaničkog savršenstva. Berluskoni ga je štitio u sukobu koji je trajao dvije godine, vjerujući da igrači poput Dejana mogu stvoriti istinsku emotivnu vezu s publikom. Instinkt mu se pokazao tačnim: čak i s ograničenim vremenom na terenu, Savićević je stekao nadimak Il Genio. Uoči odlučujućeg finala Lige šampiona u Atini 1994, Berluskoni mu je rekao: „Ako si genije, pokaži to.“ Protivnik je bila Barselona, koju je predvodio legendarni Johan Krojf - a u toj utakmici Savićević je zauvijek definisao svoj status. Film prati Savićevića kao ličnost koja opstaje dok epohe propadaju i transformišu se, ostajući vjerna sebi. Kroz arhivske snimke, lične priče i dramatičan širi društveni kontekst, isprepliće se priča o raspadu Jugoslavije, gdje je fudbal postajao oružje nacionalističke propagande, sa paralelnim usponom Berluskonijeve Italije - zemlje koju je njen najmoćniji čovjek oblikovao po sopstvenoj mjeri, koristeći fudbal za vlastiti politički uspon.