Looking forward to the world premiere of her debut feature, Tiger competitor Clip, writer-director Maja Miloš is relatively calm, she tells Edward Lawrenson
“The whole festival thing is occupying my mind, so I’m not concentrating so much on the premiere. When I get dressed up, then I’ll be nervous.” IFFR may be hosting the first public screening, but Maja Miloš was determined to show the film to a special audience before coming to Rotterdam. A raw, powerful drama about adolescent life in a Serbian small town revolving around teenage Jasna, the movie has already been screened to Miloš’ young cast, and – crucially – to the parents of the actors.
The film is potentially uncomfortable viewing: there are a number of sequences featuring Jasna and other characters experimenting with sex – which Jasna records on her ever-present mobile phone – and Miloš made sure both the actors and their parents were comfortable with such extreme material.
“One of the most important things for me is everything is very open, very straight, and everybody knows everything. I didn’t want to hide anything. I didn’t want to make a big fuss over sex on film, either,” she says. “With the parents, I went through all the scenes and all the shots so we have everything prepared – partly for practical reasons because we had to have body doubles and so on. They were expecting so much from the film, and when they said that I didn’t displease them – the kids and the parents – it was like one of the greatest things during the film.”
Miloš spent a large amount of time researching the lives of her teenage subjects. She says: “We did the casting over two years – and then intensely for eight months. I had one hour per person, so I spoke a lot to young people. I asked them what they thought about their experiences. Of course not all of them had sex tapes of the kind Jasna films – and but about 80 percent of the cast knew someone who did.”
Giving a heartfelt and honest performance, newcomer Isidora Simijonivic was 14 when production started, as were many of the cast. “I think that gives the authenticity to the film,” says Miloš. “I also tried with actors a little older – 19 or so. But they didn’t have that strength and passion; they didn’t quite understand how everything functions at that young age. Three or four years is a big difference at that age.”
Working with these young actors was clearly intense and enriching for Miloš, herself just in her late twenties. “I insisted we had a relationship where everything could be said – we don’t judge anybody or anything. We have a loving, trustful relationship – and I hope that can be seen in the film.”
Produced on what Miloš calls a “low budget”, Clip was backed partly by the Ministry of Culture and a Belgrade culture fund. “So it’s government funded!” Miloš says, a little bemused perhaps that this should have been the case with such an unvarnished view of contemporary Serbian reality. The film will be released in Serbia, but has yet to secure a sales agent. “Maybe in Rotterdam!” says Miloš.
More about Clip here.