Josip Lukić
Mom’s Alive Today
JAKOV is prepared to do anything to save his mother from being committed to a psychiatric hospital. The biggest obstacle in carrying out this plan is the people who should offer him support - his immediate family.
SYNOPSIS
JAKOV (30) is temporarily in Split because his much-adored mother, ANTICA (55), is having outbursts of schizophrenic behaviour. Jakov is studying in Zagreb, currently undergoing a screening process for a lucrative job in Saudi Arabia. His mother, Antica, has battled with mental illness for years and has been diagnosed with a schizoaffective disorder, which worsens with frequent outbursts and bad reactions to antidepressants. Since she has been committed before, Jakov wants to avoid having Antica committed at every cost, knowing well enough how the Split psychiatric ward treats its patients. DIVNA (56), Antica’s well-to-do sister, and MATEA (36), Antica’s daughter and Jakov’s sister, believe committing her would be the best course of action because of Antica’s suicidal thoughts and statements. They fear Antica might harm herself, and they play the guilt card with Jakov. He tries to help Antica and takes her for counselling with a psychiatrist, but the only recourse for treating Antica’s illness is precise pharmaceutical therapy. Antica is somewhat ashamed of her disease because of the judgmental attitudes of her community and family, which bothers Jakov a lot, but he still tries to protect her. Split is a beautiful tourist town but deeply conservative and patriarchal. Jakov’s and Antica’s relationship is intense and pathological. We follow them through their arguments, reconciliations, and tense relationship, brimming with a dark past. At one point, we get the feeling that Jakov is both a good son and an enraged and violent husband to Antica. He’s Antica’s whole world since the people in her immediate family do not take notice of her anymore. Jakov does his best to keep Antica entertained in her everyday life with the little things that make out her day, but it’s getting harder and harder. We follow Jakov getting more and more inclined to have Antica committed to the psychiatric ward. In parallel with that, we follow the dissolution of Jakov’s relationships with immediate family members, especially his sister and father.
DIRECTOR/WRITER
Josip Lukić
PRODUCER
Tena Gojić
PRODUCTION COMPANY
Dinaridi Film
CO-PRODUCTION COMPANY
Non-Aligned Films
COUNTRIES
Croatia
Serbia
Josip Lukić
JOSIP LUKIĆ (1984) was born in Split and graduated from the Faculty of Economics, Business and Tourism. He started working on film after moving to Zagreb seven years ago, where he directed his first films in the Blank Film Incubator Film Association. In 2015 he enrolled in the Film and TV Directing programme at the Academy of Dramatic Arts in Zagreb. Films he has cooperated on as a screenwriter, director and actor have been screened and awarded at numerous international and Croatian festivals. He won Heart of Sarajevo for the Best Student Film with his latest short, IT'S NOT COLD FOR MOSQUITOES (2022). His documentary film MOMSY (2018) was awarded the Grand Prix at the Croatian Film Days, the Best Balkan Newcomer award at DokuFest in Prizren, and the Dean’s award at the Academy of Dramatic Arts. The film has also been screened at the American Festival of Documentary Film and Cinemed Festival in Montpellier. His student short-length film SUMMER FRUITS (2019) merited a special mention at the Zagreb Film Festival and Tabor Film Festival and won Best Director and Best Screenplay at the Croatian Film Days. The film premiered internationally at the Brest European Short Film Festival in France. His documentary THE REX WILL SAIL IN (2019) has been awarded at Doclisboa in Portugal and Makedox in Skopje. His student short-length feature was awarded Best Short Film at this year’s Beldocs International Documentary Film Festival in Belgrade. He has made appearances in feature films by distinguished Croatian directors, such as Ognjen Sviličić and Sonja Tarokić, as well as short-length films by younger Croatian directors, such as Juraj Primorac, Igor Jelinović and Ivan Turković Krnjak, which have been screened and awarded at renowned European short film festivals.
The idea behind the film is based on true events from the summer of 2018 when my mother was committed to the psychiatric ward in Split for the second time. While communicating with those closest to me, I realised that while recounting these events and my mother's emotional states as well as mine, there was always something missing and that I could only actually tell it by turning it into a film. My primary goal was to convey the chronic feeling of helplessness when no attention or affection can help someone you care about the most. Another goal of mine was to say that life can look like a living hell even if there is no objective reason for it – like war, loneliness, deceased parents, or people dying from cancer or in car crashes – other than simply expecting too much of others.
DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT
Tena Gojić
TENA GOJIĆ (1982) is running the production company Dinaridi Film based in Croatia. She graduated in production at the Academy of Dramatic Arts and Comparative Literature and Philosophy from the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences in Zagreb. Her latest co-production, HAVE YOU SEEN THIS WOMAN? (2022) by Matija Gluščević and Dušan Zorić was premiered at Venice International Critics’ Week. Her first co-production, MARE (2020) by Andrea Štaka, premiered at Berlinale Panorama. Feature film A BRIEF EXCURSION (2017) by Igor Bezinović, which she produced with Studio Pangolin, premiered at IFFR Bright Future selection. So far, she has produced more than ten awarded and well-travelled short films. She has participated in workshops and training such as Rotterdam Lab, Emerging Producers, EKRAN+, Sarajevo Talents, Midpoint, Breaking Ground and CineVision. She is a member of the Croatian Producers Association.
Production company profile
DINARIDI FILM is a production company founded by producer Tena Gojić in 2016 with the aim of making quality arthouse films. The company works mostly with upcoming talents but also with acclaimed directors and writers. The company experiments with classical genre divisions, keeping in mind the goal of introducing an innovative cinema style on the big screen.
Where are we at?
TOTAL ESTIMATED BUDGET
781.811,09 EUR
FINANCES PENDING
269.588,31 EUR
FINANCES IN PLACE
485.662,35 EUR
Production timeline
AUGUST 2020 - FEBRUARY 2023
Development
MARCH - MAY 2024
Pre-production
LATE MAY - JUNE 2024
Shooting
JULY - DECEMBER 2024
Post-production
FEBRUARY 2024
Distribution