CL: It is a well-known fact that it's not easy to make a film in Montenegro (which is not a member of Eurimages and other important film institutions). How did the film's financing go?

Ivan Marinović: Well... The first contract arrived quickly, but we had to wait for years before the money reached the account. Also we tried to apply twice in Croatia and Macedonia (where journalists protested after Sarajevo and Skopje screenings, since the film had strong Macedonian elements but didn't get the support) and in neither case did we get the money, despite reaching the final rounds. I even had an offer from an American producer, it was an amount typical for EU coproduction, but they demanded a final cut and creative control of the project which I couldn't allow. So I had to find alternaive means of financing and I managed to do so through sponsorships, logistics, a lot of field work, and through support of Herceg Novi Touristic Organisation and Luštica Bay.

CL: What is the most difficult part of pre-production?

Ivan Mafrinović: The most difficult thing is to stay motivated and to maintain the faith in the project. If I hadn't got two awards for the screenplay from very prestigious juries in Sarajevo and Jerusalem, I don't know if I would be able to go through all of it psychologically.

CL: How free did you feel and how much did you have to compromise during your work?

Ivan Marinović: I pretty much grew up on Luštica, so I knew the terrain and locations that we had to adapt to very well. My freedom was possible thanks to my own flexibility. There weren't too many compromises, sometimes better and more creative solutions came out of these compromises. In the end, when I look at it we had only two shooting days where I really felt that heavy compromises were necessary, in a sense that I couldn't have the number of shots that I wished for, since the weather and other cirumstances didn't allow it.

CL: Who are the "witches" in your authorial life – imaginary or "real"?

Ivan Marinović: I'd say it is a whole line of decision-makers who, thanks to their pseudo-intelectual views of politics, filter the entire European cinema in a certain way. The substance and genuiness become less important than formalities, preconceived moulded patterns are advocated at the expense of authentic diversity. In the end, the films that easily communicate with the audiences are ignored and overlooked, and only those that communicate with decision-makers are favoured. It turns our cinema into a burdensome discipline, that ends up singing to the choir.

CL: In the ideal world, how would you imagine the production/financing of a Balkans film?

Ivan Marinović: The system is complicated because many coproducers with small shares of the project are a necessity. The differences in prices of the crew and services between different countries are sometimes too big, so a lot of money gets lost in that mathematics, and does damage to the image of the film. I'd say that the domicile country should always invest at least 70-80% of a film's budget.

Besides that, I would prefer that the domestic and regional markets get protected, and that they are given space and time in cinemas. We are completely on our own when it comes to fighting with blockbusters and Hollywood, which is not the case in Germany or France. Great trade deals between EU and USA fell through just because Germany and France would put a veto on them when discussions start concerning national film.

CL: Is there anything you’d change with international institutions when film financing is concerned? Are some application procedures too long and cumbersome? Is the effect of a successful pitching always crucial for the final film result?

Ivan Marinović: That is too great of a subject to give a simple answer. The system is clumsy, but at least there is a system. Sometimes problems can be caused by people who don't really have the filmmaking process in their experience, so they can't fully understand it. And you can find that sort of people on many important positions which determine the destinies of different films. Also, sales agents tend to sell festival brands, instead of selling films. So, many great films go through the festival circuit without ever penetrating different markets. Sometimes it all seems lazy to me. One sign that there is something wrong is that the audience awards don't really mean much for the selling of films. I find that absurd. The money that comes from festivals is easy money, while distribution takes many financial risks with it, so it doesn't interest them as much, but still without it the justice isn't made for the films. At the same time, the sales agents have great influence on festival selections, so a small film from a small cinematography can hardly get a fair chance in such a system.

CL: Can you imagine Godard, Fellini, Kieslowski or Haneke pitch their films?

CL: What is missing in the local film industry? What needs to happen for the filmic Montenegro to become more efficient?

Ivan Marinović: Education, above anything else. Then, we lack a lot of professionals, we have too many directors, and no DoP’s, no editors, gaffers... People have to become open for educating themselves and pecializing themselves within different crafts that we miss. That way we could finally manage to piece up more than one crew in the country.

CL: If you had ideal budget and production conditions, who would you like most to work with? Who would be your dream team?

Ivan Marinović: This will sound corny, but I wouldn't change my team. Before the shooting, I cleaned up my crew a bit, and in the end I made the film with my own dream team.

I love working with my generation, and with people who can be a part of my process from the very first draft of the screenplay. And above all, I like knowing them personally very well, knowing what kind of people they are, how much I can lean on them and all. Even if I get an offer to work in the USA, I would try to bring as much of my crew with me as possible.

CL: Do you have film role models?

Ivan Marinović: For sure, but that keeps changing as well. Lately, I keep in aing that Sydney Lumet may be the best director in the history of Hollywood, and I find him under-appreciated. I adore Miloš Forman and Ivan Passer. And I was greatly influenced by Coen brothers, Wes Anderson, P.T. Anderson. And obviously I can rewatch Kubrick and Fellini anytime.

CL: Have you returned to Montenegro for good or are you in transit, in-between a few international homes?

Ivan Marinović: I returned to make a film. Now its destiny should determine my next steps. Montenegro is a source of inspiration for me. Everything that I write is inseparable from it. That can be a problem exactly because of my own cosmopolitan needs and views of the world. Very often, I don't find myself an active member of the Montenegrin society, I feel more like an observer, which is fine for work, but not as much for living.

CL: How is FAMU different from local film education institutions? Can you, in general terms, describe the study system you attended?

Ivan Marinović: FAMU has one of the oldest film traditions in Europe. Thanks to all departments of the school you learn as much from your colleagues as you do from your professors. I was very tied to my mentors there, and the human bonds that are created are still very strong. FAMU also has a dynamics within it because many visiting lecturers come, as well as many international students who become the foundation of your professional network afterwards.

FDU Cetinje I don't really know, since I’ve never even visited it. So I don’t know their methodology, but it sounds unsettling to me that there are no departments for Camera, Editing or Sound.

CL: Where do you feel at ease – as Ivan the human being and as a film author – in Montenegro or abroad? Or is “being here and there”, actually, a comfortable position?

Ivan Marinović: I don't know if there is an answer to it. I developed a nomadic nature, thanks to the fact that I lived in many different countries while studying. When it comes to my profession, I feel better abroad, but Montenegro will always be my base because of my family and because of my own need for the Mediterranean space. The more I think about it, the more I see that the duality of such position may never be solved. To an extent, I enjoy the seaside lazyness, and playing cards with my friends from primary school, and the stories of my family where I find my favourite sense of humor, but the other side demands a constant intelectual and professional growth, so I have to meet people that sport a similar sensibility, which is possible to find only in places where film is part of our daily life.

CL: When you prepare for a new film project, do you contemplate it in terms of genre categories or you start with a story, that may evolve into something completely different from the original plan?

Ivan Marinović: I always search for the character and its dimensions. I find my protagonist, and a few incidents that I want to put him/her in. Then I look for other pieces - structure, motives, locations, aesthetics. I tend to build the thematics subconsciously, and I let it go out only after the first draft of the script. This way, I try to make it as personal and intimate as possible.

CL: What is your next project?

I have quite a few in my plans, a farsical mini series "End of the Season" and a feature film with a working title "Picigamorti".

Maja Bogojević