“This is one of those things that you wish and hope for, and when they actually happen, you have to keep in mind that it’s thanks to the huge effort of the entire team. Thousands of films are submitted to the Berlinale and it is impossible not to be thrilled that they’ve chosen our film among them”, said the film’s director Čejen Černić Čanak, adding: “The film has been in the making for years. We created it with open hearts and a tremendous amount of love, and I really hope that the audience will feels it too.”

Along with the Cannes and Venice festivals, the Berlinale is the leading European film festival. Generation is its competition programme dedicated to top films about and for the young people from all over the world, and it is divided into two sub-programs – Kplus (for children), and 14plus (for the youth), which will feature Sandbag Dam. As Berlinale organisers point out, Generation showcases films that raise challenging questions and encourage dialogue with the audience, filmmakers, and the critics.

Based on the screenplay by award-winning playwright and novelist Tomislav Zajec, Sandbag Dam centres on Marko (Lav Novosel), a young athlete whose well-organised life is turned upside-down with the return of Slaven (Andrija Žunac), rekindling his forbidden boyhood romance. And while the whole village fears the impending flood, and builds sandbag dams to protect their homes, Marko will try to build an embankment around himself, shielding himself from his own emotions. But water always finds a way.

Čejen Černić Čanak graduated in Film and TV Directing from the Academy of Dramatic Art of the University of Zagreb. After directing short fiction, documentaries, and animated films, she made her fiction feature debut with the children’s film The Mystery of Green Hill, whose screenplay is based on Ivan Kušan’s eponymous novel. She received the 2017 Breza Award for Best Debutant at the 64th Pula Film Festival, while the children’s mystery adventure became the most watched Croatian title in cinemas that same year. It screened at more than 25 festivals and sold to a wide range of territories. Sandbag Dam is her second feature film.

In addition to Lav Novosel and Andrija Žunac, the cast is completed by Leon Grgić, Franka Mikolaci, Tanja Smoje, Alma Prica, Filip Šovagović and Luka Baškarad. The director of photography is Marko Brdar, alongside editor Slaven Zečević, and sound designer Julij Zornik, while the music is composed by Domas Strupinskas. The production design was done by Tajana Čanić Stanković, costume design by Selena Orb, with Matea Katunar as the make-up artist.

With Croatian Kinorama as the main producer, Sandbag Dam is a co-production between companies Tremora from Lithuania and Perfo Production from Slovenia. The co-producers are Ieva Norvilienė, Aleš Pavlin and Andrej Štritof. The film was financially supported by the Croatian Audiovisual Centre, Lithuanian Film Centre, Slovenian Film Centre, Viba Film Studio and Creative Europe MEDIA sub-programme.

The film’s international sales are handled by The Open Reel, while in Croatia it will be distributed by Duplicato Media.

This year’s 75th Berlinale opens with a screening of Das Licht (The Light) directed by Tom Tykwer, while the jury president of the main competition programme is screenwriter and director Todd Haynes.

The festival will be held 13th – 23rd February 2025, but the full programme announcement is scheduled for 4th February.