Four River Friday is a new section of the Croatian Film Association and Cinema Club Karlovac, in which we want to give you insight into the further journeys of films awarded at last year’s Four River Film Festival and Youth Film Festival, as well as insight into the achievements and new projects of their authors.
In this section we want to show you how much we care about our filmmakers and how we follow their work and artistic development with interest, and we want to create a space for them to promote their achievements outside of our festivals’ programs.
The first interview we did for Four River Friday was with Karlo Gagulić from the Blank film association from Zagreb. His film A Ship in the Bottle tells the story of growing up in a new environment and trying to find your place under the sun. Professor Ana Đordić, one of the long-term members of the selection committee of the Festival and a co-founder and lecturer in the Film EDUcation program at Zagreb’s Tuškanac Cinema, says that the film works “great on all levels, from the script, the direction and the cinematography, to the acting and the editing”, therefore it is not surprising that A Ship in the Bottle won the Audience Award at the 2020 Four River Film Festival.
The Blank film association is supported by The National Foundation for Civil Society Development, and in cooperation with them they have made several interesting promo videos. In their new documentary films cycle, they are especially engaged in investigative journalism on the Kiosk project. Blank wants to be a promoter of social entrepreneurship and for that reason they launched the StartUP campaign, which gives a chance to projects that have the potential for self-sustainability and benefit the local community.
Check out what Karlo Gagulić, the director of the film A Ship in the Bottle, whose love of film began in elementary school, told us.
Karlo is a student at VERN University in Zagreb. He is a professional actor in the plays of the Zagreb Youth Theatre, and he began his film career with the short documentary In the World of Angels, which was shown at Four River Film Festival. The film Cinderella, which he produced, won the “Grand Prix” award at Dubrovnik Film Festival, and his film A Ship in the Bottle was selected by Betina Film Festival, Four River Film Festival (it won the Audience Award) and at the Croatian Film Days.
1. How did your love of film start?
My love of film began in elementary school, when I joined a film group, where I mostly worked behind the camera, and later on editing. After elementary school, I enrolled in a high school film workshop at Blank and there I made my two films: In the World of Angels and A Ship in the Bottle. Both films took part in the Four River Film Festival.
2. What was it like for you to participate in last year’s online Youth Film Festival and how do you manage to organize film shoots during the pandemic?
I am very pleased with the organization of the whole festival, the participants are great, the films and the atmosphere are really great. As for the organization of film shoots in the middle of a pandemic, it is quite difficult, but not impossible. A large number of people usually work on my sets, but I have significantly reduced the number of people because of coronavirus. We all stick to the safety measures, wear masks and in the end everything goes well.
3. How do you choose ideas for your films?
Sometimes an idea comes to me while I’m having coffee and/or when I’m out somewhere with friends. For example, the idea for A Ship in the Bottle came to me on the set of a TV show. When we had a day off, I talked to the lead actor about the two of us working on something. I asked him what life was like in Kaštela (a town in Dalmatia) and the idea came to me in an instant.
4. How are your films coming along this year? Do you plan on participating in the Four River Film Festival this year? If you are, what do you expect of the festival?
I just finished shooting my new film School that (doesn’t) exist, about the unusual dealings of a private school in Zagreb. Unfortunately, due to my age, I can no longer submit films to Four River Film Festival, but if there should be another screening of short films out of competition, I would be happy to send in my film for everyone to see.
Follow our Four River Friday section because we bring you interesting new conversations about film every Friday!
