The Slovenian short Self-Sown is an affecting, sweat-drenched coming-of-age tale following Nikola, a 17-year-old boy whose violent swagger belies his inner vulnerability. Torn between a life of criminality, an existence of caring for his depression-ridden mother and the peace he finds with his girlfriend, Nikola must choose a path that will allow him to bloom, rather than wilt.

The film by Slovenian-US director David Champaigne (a graduate of the Academy of Theatre, Radio, Film and Television at the University of Ljubljana) will receive its world premiere at the 60th edition of the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, under the auspices of EFP’s Future Frames. Cineuropa caught up with him to ask how the seeds for Self-Sown were planted.

Cineuropa: Where did the idea for Self-Sown originate?
David Champaigne: Self-Sown is strongly connected to my personal reality and is deeply rooted in the memories of my youth. Owing to certain circumstances, I too was “self-sown”. I had to grow up quickly, and at the same time, I spent lots of time on the streets, where I was in close contact with peers from socially disadvantaged families. Being among them, I realised that they were often in search of love, acceptance, brotherhood and a feeling of family on the streets because that was what they lacked at home. And in some way, so did I. While growing up, I was always curious, observing the world around me. This is where I soaked up everything, and with time, the desire to tell stories about my observations began to increase. And that is where the idea for the film originates – the life that surrounded me in my youth, and what surrounds me today.

Everything in the film is imbued with a documentary feel. Was there much “filming on the fly”?
As life on the streets and in socially disadvantaged homes is often raw, emotional, brutal and tragic, we decided to choose a shooting style that would bring the audience up close to the story and elicit a feeling as if they were following the characters as they were living in the moment. Interestingly, there was no “filming on the fly”. We rehearsed the scenes multiple times and slowly searched for the essence of each sequence. When we had the feeling that the scenes were too carefully rehearsed, we searched for moments of spontaneity through decent preparation. Once we had the confidence that we knew the material, we were open to improvisation, and that is what truly brought the film to life.

Can you tell us about your approach to casting, especially how you found Svit Šturbej for the role of Nikola?
The approach to casting was very thorough. Almost all of the characters were chosen through a multiple-round audition process. We started with individual auditions, seeking authenticity and sincerity. We gave the actors tasks that would test their imagination, ability to relax, movement, confidence and emotional memory. We then gave them set pieces that put them in specific circumstances that were like the ones in Self-Sown. Then, in the following rounds, we paired actors in different combinations, testing their chemistry, how they acted in pairs and groups, and how they reacted to each other physically and emotionally. At the very end, we worked on a scene from the screenplay that we analysed and rehearsed a couple of times. With this approach, we made sure that Svit Šturbej was selected very carefully, and with the certainty that he had the ability and the range to shoulder the task of playing this role in the film. A big challenge of this approach was that I was forced to know exactly what I needed from the characters in order to cast the right ones for each part. It was a process that helped me develop a feeling for how I viewed the story and the characters living within it.

Can you tell us about your future projects?
Self-Sown was originally an idea for a feature, but I made a short as part of my master’s degree, and in some way, it was a test to see if this was something I truly wanted to develop further. I now have an answer to that question – yes. It is a topic and a theme that I want to grow into a deeper, stronger and more touching film. The screenplay is currently being developed at the Scenarnica workshop, organised and financed by the Slovenian Film Centre and the Directors Guild of Slovenia.