THE OTTER

 Srđan Vuletić

Writer: Stefan Bošković

Artikulacija Film, Montenegro

When life gives you bad cards, change the deck.

HANA, a shy sweet sixteen, is secretly in love with MARIO, a schoolmate and half of popular youtube duo Luka&Mario. Hana observes the shoot in which LUKA accidentally hurts Mario. Hana helps Mario with the wound, and gets invited to go with him and Luka to a lake where they will shoot a solar eclipse tomorrow.
But, in the morning, Hana's father dies. Father, a former pilot, had a chance to enter NASA program and when fell ill, he desired to be buried in an astronaut suit. Mother wants to cherish Father's will, but crumbles under the pressure of the family who wants a traditional funeral. Mother's inability to confront the family cause a great conflict between Hana and Mother.
Frustrated, Hana runs out of home and comes in time to go with Luka and Mario, without telling them about Father's death. Mario hides his emotions towards Hana in Luka's presence. Luka plays with Mario's feelings, paying too much attention to Hana, who accepts this game. Mario, young and impulsive, can't stand it and breaks away from them. Hana and Luka, while waiting for the eclipse, undress and swim in a lake. When Mario rejoins, he finds them having good time, sunbathing. In Mario's possessive head, the misconception of Hana is born, and he takes Hana to the side while Luka records all with his mobile. Mario tries to rape Hana, but Luka steps in and stops it by giving Mario a few slaps. They decide to finish the shooting and climb a narrow hill road to a shooting spot. Jealous, betrayed, Mario pushes Luka off a cliff and break his legs. Hana is asked to go and seek help, and in panic, she gets Luka's cell phone.

However, Hana does not seek help at all. She simply goes home determined to get her Father the burial he wanted. At the mourning session, she gets drunk, creates chaos around the house, making Mother to change her mind and family to step back.

Next day, Hana gives the phone back to Luka, and sets showdown with Mario.

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Director’s biography: Srđan Vuletić  / IMDb

Directed and scripted award winning feature and short films: SUMMER IN THE GOLDEN VALLEY
(Rotterdam Film Festival - Tiger Award , world premiere Toronto Film Festival), IT'S HARD TO BE NICE (Sarajevo Film Festival - Best Actor Award, Mont Blanc Scriptwriting Prize Hamburg Film Festival)
HOP, SKIP & JUMP - (Berlin Film Festival - Best Short Film Panorama Award), 10 MINUTES ( script - European Film Academy - Best short film).
Member of the EFA. Directed and scripted award winning feature and short films (selected): I BURNT LEGS / Palio Sam noge (1993), European Film

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Producer’s biography:  Ivan Đurović / IMDb

Ivan Djurovic (1974, Podgorica, Montenegro). He graduated Production at Faculty of Dramatic Arts – Cetinje, Montenegro. Since 2001, he has been working as producer and CEO in the production company ARTIKULACIJA FILM which he also founded. Producer or co-producer of 17 various films of different formats. Founder of Montenegro Film Forum and president of PDM (Producers and directors of Montenegro). One of the few people that started new Montenegrin cinematography, and actively participates in its development. Member of European Film Academy.

Where are we at?

Estimated production budget: 703.000,00 EUR 

Financing in place: 60.000,00 EUR

Production timeline: 

Development of project: ... - June 2022
Pre-production: June-Sept 2022
Shooting: September 2022
Post-production: Nov 2022-March 2023
Premiere: 2023

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Director’s statement

When I stumbled upon the script THE OTTER my initial thought was - finally. Finally to be able to read some ex-Yugoslav stuff that captures the spirit of our time, something that can be described without using the adjectives usually related to our regional cinematography - war, postwar, corrupted, transitional. THE OTTER is a simple, entertaining girl's coming of age story that talks about something far much bigger, far more important - about that invisible yet omnipresent feel: nothing will be as before, the rules of the game have changed, the whole game has changed. Our daughters will not be like our mothers. Our sons are not like fathers. Generational continuity is interrupted. Macho Balkan is dead. We are in the age of making new rules, new games, new relations. So we better lay a healthy foundations, for the sake of a greater future.

Producer's statement

Screenwriter Stefan Bošković introduced me to this project in its early development stage, as practically a logline for his master studies project. Script grew, it got script development support by Film Centre of Montenegro, which Bošković used to improve the project, and to make an agreement with director Srđan Vuletić, a move that proved to bring our project an extra value. First thing the deal yielded was a treatment that clearly defined a structure and the tone of the film. All of sudden, it became a griping tale , a project that spans across genres, has elements of drama, mystery and comedy, with a possible strong appeal to different age groups.
At this point, we successfully presented the project and received the Best pitch award at When East Meets West in Trieste, thus getting an invite to Cannes Marche Du Film Co-Production Speed Meeting Session. It is a natural step for us to present our project at the Cinelink program and test the waters with regional and European.

Production Company profile

ARTIKULACIJA FILM  is the first independent production company in Montenegro, founded in 2001 by Ivan Djurovic. The core of Artikulacija Film has been dedicated to innovative audiovisual production, international cooperation and implementation of high professional standards within Montenegrin audiovisual industry. During the many years of our activity, we have managed to gather experienced producers from various fields of audiovisual industry, as well as young authors with authentic and inspiring ideas.

Email:  info@artikulacija.co.me

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