I’m aware of the fact my career is only just beginning and that I have many big and small projects ahead of me, but I’m sure none of them will be as special as Murina was, mostly because this project was my first experience on a professional film set, and because all firsts are simply a special category. In the summer of 2019 I already felt great honour, happiness and gratitude (especially because that year didn’t start out that well for me) to be a part of Murina as a trainee/assistant to the production coordinator/craft girl for my traineeship I had to complete at the Academy of Dramatic Arts, because in a month and a half I gained great experience and knowledge that have helped me a lot in my further work. I am grateful for the wonderful island of Hvar, for climbing and descending Dubovica almost every day, for the crazy count, for the excursions during the one free day a week, for cooking, cleaning, handing out salads for lunch, gin-tonics in the middle of the city with my bosses at 5 o’clock in the afternoon and all other adventures and challenges we’ve been through. Of course, I’m grateful for all the serious production work we also had to do 😅. However, what made Murina special were the people! It was my first big project and I already experienced the well-known saying that the crew eventually becomes your family. I don’t know if it was the isolation, the summer or something else, but the team that was there is the team I would work with on ten times more challenging projects, even though Murina itself was pretty complex. I’m nostalgic and emotional, but now that it has become such a big success, I’m even more grateful to have taken part in this story. I’m happy for the whole crew, especially for our leaders – Katarina Prpić and Danijel Pek.

Before climbing up on stage at the Pula Film Festival, I didn’t think I was important enough in this whole story to go on. Look at her, handing out salads and now she wants to walk the red carpet. 😂 When I was thinking about whether I should go on stage with the crew or not, Katarina told me: “Hey, hey, everyone matters.” If we leave out the importance of these words for me personally, I’m pointing this out because it says a lot about why they are where they are today: of course, they’re talented, capable, hardworking, persistent, resourceful and everything else needed in order to succeed, but what I would like to highlight, and what many people in film forget about on their way up the ladder, is that they remained “normal” people with both feet firmly on the ground. And precisely because of that I know the success of this film in Cannes is only one of many they will achieve. Because staying “normal” but great, despite the fame, glamour and the bright lights is very rare. I’m repeating myself, but I’m very grateful to have had such mentors, dare I say role models, from whom I learned a lot. Perhaps the most important lesson I want to keep in mind during my entire professional life is this: for things to work well, each person matters in the film chain, both those at the top and those just starting out.