Stand By(1991)

Stand By is a Serbian drama following three patients in a Belgrade AIDS clinic during a devastating epidemic. A painter believes his artwork holds healing power, while his roommate—a former musician struggling with addiction—spirals after his wife abandons him. When a young boy joins their ward, the three form an unlikely bond amid illness, despair, and moral collapse. The musician's rage and drug use lead him to violence; the painter's faith in his paintings cannot save him from the disease's progression. As hope crumbles, only the child survives, left with the painter's mysterious works and an uncertain future. The film unfolds as a raw portrait of suffering, redemption's failure, and the fragile lives caught between survival and surrender.