The showcase titled 'Mare – how landscape emphasises a film's character' was moderated by Jess Conoplia, President of the Association of Film Commissioners International, while director, scriptwriter and producer Andrea Štaka, producer Tena Gojić and the Chief Executive Officer of the Croatian Audiovisual Centre, Christopher Peter Marcich discussed filming in Croatia.

Andrea Štaka revealed that in the case of Mare, she first envisioned the location, Konavle and its airport, and only then built the story and the characters around it. She shared an anecdote from the filming of Cure – The Life of Another (2014), which offered the first big learning opportunity for her colleagues who later went on to work on some of the biggest productions filmed in Dubrovnik, such as Game of Thrones. In the making of Mare, they did a full circle, once again returning to the region.  

“In the past, the area of Konavle was the one that provided the town of Dubrovnik with its food supplies, while, today, its airport is a point of arrival for all the tourists and film crews coming to Dubrovnik. Almost all the residents of Konavle either work at the airport of have business ties to it. It is located only 20 kilometres from Dubrovnik, but seems worlds away thanks to its mountainous terrain. The geographical peculiarity of Konavle, with its natural isolation, as well as its proximity to the airport, had a great effect on the development of characters in Mare,” said Andrea Štaka, adding, “We had a great working collaboration with the local community, which was, given my personal connection to Konavle, extremely important to me.” 

“Thanks to Mare, in Konavle they took me in as one of their own, which was really important for building trust in the local community,” said Tena Gojić, using the opportunity to express her gratitude to the City of Dubrovnik, the Tourist Board of both Dubrovnik and Konavle, and the Municipality of Konavle.    

“The fact that people in Dubrovnik and the surrounding area are already familiar with what a film set entails made our job a lot easier, and, in the making of the film, our goal was to employ as many local people as possible in all segments of production. For instance, it was interesting to learn that many people had experience of being in front of the camera, because they had already worked as extras on projects in Dubrovnik,” she added, stressing that the film was shot is October when the sun is at its most beautiful in Konavle because the director wanted to make full use of the ‘golden hour’. Tena Gojić also gave advice to the producers in the audience to avoid filming during the high tourist season if they are thinking of filming in Dubrovnik.  

“I would like to use this opportunity to once again congratulate Andrea, Tena and the whole film crew. We are exceptionally proud of this film because it demonstrates the amazing creativity of Croatian authors, producers and acting talents. HAVC supported the project in different stages of development, from support to script development, to the support to co-productions with minority Croatian participation scheme, as well as via the Filming in Croatia programme, given that the film was filmed entirely in Croatia, so it is a pleasure to round off the story here in Berlin. Thanks to the quality of her project, Andrea also received considerable funding in Switzerland, but we all feel that this is a Croatian film as well,” asserted HAVC CEO Christopher Peter Marcich.

Showcase moderator Jess Conoplia pointed out that film industries both in the US and around the world recognize Croatia as a country with excellent locations and filming potential, and asked Director Marcich to comment on a lack of studio capacities and plans to remedy this in the future.

“A feasibility study is currently being made on building a film studio in Croatia. It is being conducted by renowned international consultancy company Olsberg SPI and we are expecting to know their results by the end of March. Several prospective locations around Zagreb and on the coast are being considered and their analysis will show which location best satisfies all the necessary parameters. Based on their findings, I expect a call for tenders for building a film studio in Croatia will be opened by the end of the year,” explained Marcich.

“I have really enjoyed the film and I congratulate the whole crew on doing such an excellent job in creating it, as well as on the world premiere here in Berlin. I am especially pleased that Mare has allowed us to discover new locations and opportunities for filming in Croatia. This example demonstrates that there are excellent opportunities for professional development and learning for film crews and the accompanying industry needed for film production, and demonstrates a wonderful collaborative effort on the part of the people who worked on this arthouse projects, as well as on the biggest international productions in Dubrovnik. The fact that this is a film by a female director about a female titular character gives this project even more weight,” pointed out Conoplia.        

Cover photographs: Mare showcase at EFM Landmark        
(*author of the photographs: HAVC)