Sonja Prosenc’s new film, the tragicomedy “Family Therapy”, which had its world premiere at New York’s Tribeca Festival, will begin its European festival journey at the Sarajevo Festival.
In the competition program of full-length feature films, the film will compete for the Heart of Sarajevo awards (for best feature film, director and best actress and actor) in the company of eight other titles. The thirtieth festival in the Bosnian capital will take place between August 16 and 23.
This year’s grand festival jury is chaired by Paul Schrader . The American director and screenwriter signs the scripts of cult films such as Taxi Driver, Raging Bull and The Last Temptation of Christ , directed by Martin Scorsese, and as a director of the films American Gigolo, Mishima, A Life in Four Chapters and The Card Counter . He is also the recipient of the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement.
The members of the jury are the Swedish actress Noomi Rapace , currently one of the most sought-after European actresses and the recipient of numerous awards, whose roles have marked films such as The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The Girl Who Played with Fire , Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows , The Lamb and many others, the Slovenian actor Sebastijan Cavazza , the recipient of the European Film Award for the short film Kokoška director from Bosnia and Herzegovina Una Gunjak and the Finnish director Juho Kuosmanen , awarded in Cannes, announced from the production company Zavod Mono o.
“Family Therapy” talks in a tragicomic way about the dysfunctionality of relationships in a seemingly perfect middle-class family. Julien, a stranger, enters her, and with his presence disrupts the fragile family balance and reveals cracks in their carefully guarded facade: the mother’s overly protective attitude towards her daughter, the father’s escape into the dream of a family trip to space, and the truth that hides under the daughter’s wig.
As Sonja Prosenc said after the screening for journalists in Ljubljana’s Kinodvor , the film was designed as a tragicomedy, introducing the viewer to it through the genre of social satire. He opens the story with social issues, and the viewer gradually gets closer and closer to the film’s characters.
“Perhaps we begin to recognize ourselves in their shortcomings, which are not few, and in the actions that we otherwise condemn. This also creates a kind of discomfort when watching the film, because it is always difficult to recognize ourselves in something that we do not really approve of” she also said.
Katarina Stegnar, Marko Mandić, Mila Bezjak and the French actor Aliocha Schneider played the main roles in the film and Kristoffer Joner , who played the main male role in the director’s previous feature film The History of Love, Judita Franković Brdar, Jure Henigman, Ana Djurić – Konstrakta and Matija Vastl .
The producer of the film is the production company Zavod Mono o, the co-producers of the film are Incipit Film from Italy, Incitus film from Norway, Wolfgang&Dolly from Croatia and Living Pictures from Serbia.
In Ljubljana, the film will be previewed on July 30 at the Ljubljana Castle as part of the annual Film under the Stars cinema. As announced by the production company, the creators of the film will be present at the celebratory screening.
The film will be on the regular schedule from August 22.
source:
MMC RTV SLO, STA