In Sandbag Dam [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Čejen Černić Čanak
scheda film] – shown in the Berlinale’s Generation 14plus strand – smalltown fears are bigger than ever. But even though a flood looms on the horizon, teenager Marko is afraid of something completely different: his childhood friend, Slaven, is back, and so are the intense feelings that initially made him flee. Director Čejen Černić Čanak breaks down her film for us.

Cineuropa: In Sandbag Dam, there’s always a sense of a threat lurking in the background. It could be because of the flood, or maybe because these two boys are afraid of what might happen to them?
Čejen Černić Čanak: I really wanted the audience to feel that from the very beginning. There’s tension, and it’s gradually growing. This is a story about forbidden love between two young men in a small village in Croatia, and Croatia is still a very closed-minded country. I wasn’t aware of it before I started working on the film. We live in our own bubbles, thinking that tolerance and acceptance are a given; that’s not true. When we started auditions, I met many young people and said to them: “If you have any issues with the subject of the movie, let me know.” Many of them did. I realised that being gay in Croatia makes you feel threatened.

It’s one thing to live in a society that’s not forward-thinking – it’s quite another to be surrounded by a cult of masculinity. There’s someone arm-wrestling every other second!
I didn’t even know how popular this sport really is. Men are obsessed with it.

It’s so ridiculous that it becomes funny. Stories about LGBTQ+ communities tend to be violent and dark. You show the difficulties, but you also show the joys.
When I read the script, which was written by Tomislav Zajec, I felt a huge responsibility. After all, I am a straight woman, showing the love between two boys. But I wanted to make sure that even viewers who don’t understand this kind of relationship can feel their emotions. I wanted to show the tenderness and the kindness so that the audience – also in Croatia – would go: “I get it. It’s a love story.” I tried to speak a universal language: to talk about fear, rejection and forbidden emotions.

It is about love, that’s for sure, but they can also be very childlike. They are playful, and they pretend – also that they’re able to leave this place in their imaginary car.
Marko and Slaven [played by Lav Novosel and Andrija Žunac] share a long history. They were best friends when they were kids, then they fell in love, and that love was not allowed. Also, I think that men are always a bit immature [laughs]. Early on, when I’m looking for actors, I’m trying not to imagine the characters in my head, because it really limits me as a director. I want to stay open and just watch the people who are coming in. I first found Andrija, but Marko was much harder to cast. One boy had to turn down the role: his family was against it. I was heartbroken. Then I went to the theatre and saw Lav. We rehearsed for seven months, and for me, it’s so important to have this time with the actors. Their performances are subtle, but they are so young: these were their first big roles. We had to get to know each other first and create a safe environment.

Their characters have reason to worry about their safety. Marko is terrified of rejection, and when it happens, it’s brutal.
Many people still think it’s a “choice” to be gay. His mother is one of those people. If one of her sons is gay and the other has Down’s syndrome, like Marko’s younger brother, what does it mean for the family line? Not to mention that in a small village like theirs, it’s considered to be so shameful. She’s acting out of this fear, and she’s feeling powerless. She doesn’t have the tools to understand what Marko’s going through, so she’s trying to beat it out of him.

Were you referencing any real-life stories?
Tomislav, my screenwriter, is gay, and he started to write this script 12 years ago. At one point, it was told from Slaven’s perspective. We ended up changing it, but I talked to many young people, and yes, this story is universal. So many of them have had to deal with rejection, in different ways. I’ve also experienced “forbidden” love in the past. When you love someone and for some reason you can’t be with them… It’s easy to understand this situation.  

In Croatia, even some highly educated parents are turning away from their children merely because they are gay. It’s a really important topic for our country. But when we were pitching the project at When East Meets West [see the news], people from other places would come up to us and say the same thing: “We can relate.” I would be so happy if this film managed to open someone’s eyes.