27/06/2022 - The helmer’s seventh feature is an autofiction centring on his father, Jure, widely known for his sailing adventures

Principal photography for Lunatic has wrapped in the Slovenian coastal town of Piran, which is the very place where a number of stories about Slovenian seaman and adventurist Jure Šterk originally started. During his life, Jure crossed the Atlantic Ocean more than a dozen times using a sailing boat, and in fact, he was the first Slovenian to sail around the globe alone in a 6.5-metre vessel. This year marks the 13^th anniversary of his disappearance in the Indian Ocean.

The film, written and directed by his son, renowned Slovenian filmmaker Igor Šterk (9:06 [+see also:
trailer
film profile], Come Along [+see also:
trailer
film profile], No Man Is an Island [+see also:
film review
film profile]), is the first of its kind in the context of national cinema, given that it is a work of autofiction centred around an ordinary Slovenian family led by an extraordinary father. Lunatic (named after Jure Šterk’s boat) is an intimate portrait of Jure and his family, told from the unique, personal and subjective perspective of his son. It is labelled as a humorous, yet relentless, family drama.

The cast is spearheaded by Janez Škof (recently glimpsed in Darko Sinko’s Inventory [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Darko Sinko
film profile]) as Jure, followed by Silva Čušin (Miroslav Mandić’s Sanremo [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Miroslav Mandić
film profile]) as Vojka, Jernej Gašperin as Igor and newcomer Tito Novak playing Igor as a child. Behind the camera, the crew consists of cinematographer Miloš Srdić (in his second collaboration with Šterk, after the 2016 title Come Along), production designer Marco Juratovec (whose work has been seen in a number of recent Slovenian films, such as My Last Year as a Loser [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Timon Sturbej
film profile] and Don’t Forget to Breathe [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile]), costume designer Tina Bonča and others, while the movie will be edited by Šterk regular Petar Marković, with a predicted release date set for December.

Lunatic is a demanding production, given that the story spans an extended period, from the early 1970s to the year 2008. The photography process lasted almost ten months, having begun last September, since it features all of the seasons and various locations, and involved a large crew. The main shooting location was the Slovenian capital, Ljubljana, with the coastal towns of Koper, Piran and Pula (in Croatia) serving as other locations.

Lunatic is a Slovenian-Croatian co-production between companies A.A.C. Productions (represented by the film’s main producer, Petra Vidmar), Gustav Film, RTV Slovenia and Croatian company Švenk (represented by the film’s co-producers, Ira Cecić and Nina Petrović). Germany’s Mogador Film was involved in the development process. Financial support for the feature came from the Slovenian Film Centre (SFC) and the Croatian Audiovisual Centre (HAVC), while Ljubljana-based studio Viba Film provided technical support.