In the first story, set in 1991, a romantic attraction between Serbian Jelena and her Croatian boyfriend Ivan is shattered when love becomes a forbidden luxury in the pre-war atmosphere of madness, confusion and fear. In the second story, set in 2001, the war is over but the lovers Natasha and Ante find it impossible to turn their infatuation into an ongoing relationship: the scars of the war are still too fresh and cannot heal that easily. The third story takes place in 2011, when love can finally take root between Luka and his Serbian girlfriend, if the lovers can break free of the past.
"It all began with something my late grandmother used to say. When we talked about girlfriends, she would say “As long as she isn’t one of them...”, which meant it would be desirable to avoid a girl of Serbian nationality. I found that ‘desirability’ terribly confusing. Digging deeper, I realised how history can throw people into confusion, make them scared and give them a sense of false security when ‘the Other’ is not present." (Dalibor Matanić)
Dalibor Matanić
Born in Zagreb in 1975. He holds a degree in Film and Television Directing from the Academy of Dramatic Art in Zagreb. His feature debut, The Cashier Wants to Go to the Seaside, received the Best First Feature Film Award at the Cottbus Film Festival. Since then, the filmmaker has received various national and international prizes, most recently at the Cannes, Sarajevo and Pula film festivals for The High Sun.
filmography
2000 Blagajnica hoće ići na more (The Cashier Wants to Go to the Seaside)
2002 Fine mrtve djevojke (Fine Dead Girls/Prijetna mrtva dekleta)
2002 Suša (Drought) (short)
2005 Sto minuta slave (100 Minutes of Glory)
2006 Volim te (I Love You)
2008 Kino Lika (Cinema Lika)
2009 Tulum (Party) (short)
2010 Majka asfalta (Mother of Asphalt)
2011 Ćaća (Father)
2011 Mezanin (short)
2013 Majstori
2015 Zvizdan (The High Sun)