A ship in harbor is safe / Short experimental film

Short experimental film created on PAIC workshop on island Vis, Croatia, together with students of high-school Antun Matijesevic-Karamaneo, starring Ante Ilić as main protagonist, Mia Vojković as a narrator and other students as collaborative entity on the island.

The film is opened with the quote »Brod u luci je siguran, ali to nije ono za što su brodovi napravljeni.« (eng: »A ship in harbor is safe, but that is not what ships are made for.«) which connected with the story and inspired creativity; to show that even though you are born on a small island, you can still become successful and use your (creative) power to achieve your life goals. The idea behind the film story is to show how one young man is lost at the sea (sea representing his internal struggle in time of adolescence) and suddenly he steps on an island, which is his home, but seems strange and unfamiliar. Everything seems abandoned; there is no signs of life. Just a paper boat appears once in a while, showing him direction and keeps him motivated to continue his quest. He is looking for the others, for friends and family, and the whole island community. He is wondering around, panicking a little bit, but also becoming more and more disappointed. It seems he is just circling around and being stuck in a loop. At one point, he almost gives up, but then he still decides to try one last time and he enters one abandoned house. When he breaks in he starts to hear the voices through the wall and he decides to follow them. When he arrives at the top of the building, he opens the window and notices many young people passing the paper boat between each other. He is excited and overwhelmed he finally found them again, so he jumps through the window and joins them. They are passing the boat until it reaches the sea and they put it in so it starts to float in the sea, showing how with collective work and collaboration the boat can be safely return back to the sea and starts a new life. It used to be stuck on the island, as we can see through the film in different shots how it is resting in different building materials and broken debris, but together they manage to safely return it back to the sea: where it belongs. In the last shots, we can hear a young woman talking. She is explaining in local dialect how the people living on the island Vis are different from other people: they do not need big shopping malls or any other big city gems to be happy. They are excited when they see the sun or when the rain is slowly washing away the dust from the previous day. They do not need a lot; they simply enjoy life and their life on the island. After the boat is back in the sea, we see main protagonist is back in ‘reality’ when he is looking himself in the bathroom mirror, seeming confused. He opens a cabinet and there he finds the paper boat, reminding him of the dream he just had. It is not just a dream, but also his internal struggle how he is in entering the adult life and thinking about his future: should he stay on the island or try his shot in the big wide world. You need a lot of courage to leave the island, as well as your friends and family to try pursue your career and create a life on your own. The whole film has many layers in terms of metaphorical meanings, so there is possible to find many symbolisms (mirror, boat, dreams, seeking for others, ruins, abandoned houses, sea …). The music also has an important role in the film; the composition is made by Ante Ilić and Mia Vojković playing electric guitar and clarinet, then remixed and modified by Rajat Sharma; to create dystopian feeling and internal struggle of the main protagonist being lost in his thoughts, as well physically on the island.

PAIC (Participatory Art for Invisible Communities) is art project that includes communities from Croatia, Slovenia, Denmark and Spain and is based on recognizing and answering community needs through artistic methodologies. The project strives at building capacities of both communities and artist, creating the platform for the creative exchange and open communication through organized workshops, presentations and local forums, inciting creative and open communication. Art and culture are understood as unifying factor for social justice and sustainability connecting community members, artists, creative practitioners and cultural operators.

Main protagonist
ANTE ILIĆ

Voice
MIA VOJKOVIĆ

Other actors
Students of high school
Antun Matijašević Karamaneo

Editing
Valerie Wolf Gang

Camera
Rajat Sharma
Valerie Wolf Gang

Animation
Katarina Blažič

Sound
Katarina Blažič

Music
Rajat Sharma

Electric guitar
Ante Ilić

Clarinet
Mia Vojković

Script
Valerie Wolf Gang
Katarina Blažič
Rajat Sharma
Studenti srednje škole
Antun Matijašević Karamaneo

Grafics
Katarina Blažič

Directed by Valerie Wolf Gang

PAIC Project
http://paic-project.eu/

Vis, Croatia 2018