Heart In Your Throat
Date:
December 28, 2024
Heart In Your Throat
Heart In Your Throat
by Petar Lakić
Baš Čelik Film House | Serbia
Thriller, Magical realism, Coming of age
Logline
On the day of her grandfather’s suicide, Marina (13) is torn between grief and first time desire for a local hunk. As guilt becomes unbearable, she plans to escape from her small town.
Synopsis
MARINA (13) lives alone with her grandparents JAGODA (60) and SLOBA (60). Like every summer, her grandparents are preparing huge amounts of tomato juice for the winter. When Marina wakes up one day, she finds the yard empty and her grandfather dead by suicide. Her guilt starts to emerge as she wonders what would happen if she didn’t sleep in. Soon after her aunt JELENA (38) arrives with her family. When Marina is 3 left to take care of her little cousin, she sees the most beautiful SEXY MAN (28) she has ever seen walking across the street. She starts fantasizing about him and her guilt becomes unbearable. Marina overhears a conversation between Jelena and Jagoda, she starts to suspect that Jagoda let Sloba hang himself. The night that family leaves, Marina is left to confront her grandmother about her grandfather’s death.
After she fails reconnecting with her, Marina resorts to the last option – she calls her absent mother SEJA (40). Marina’s world shatters when her mother fails to calm her down. Luckily for Marina, the Sexy man breaks into her little room and steals her, taking her far away in the night. She is finally happy as she looks at his rugged bloody face.
Author’s Note
It’s the end of August. I am eight years old, and my sister, Marina, is thirteen. We play in the yard while our grandparents sit under an umbrella, boiling tomato juice next to a stove. My sister and I tease Grandpa about the sweat pouring from his bald head, calling it a fountain. This memory stayed with me and my family, because that day when we left the courtyard, grandpa took his own life. Returning to my hometown brings with it the relentlessness of boredom and the monotony that never seems to end. I wanted to connect his dark complicated desire for suicide to the geography of Vojvodina.
The script merges genres of thriller and magic realism. The thriller elements develop in the world of grown ups which Marina desperately tries to enter looking for connection and love. In her own lonely world she starts to imagine the Sexy man as a savior. Narration is explored through a mix of objective and subjective storytelling, emphasizing Marina’s transition from childhood to adulthood. Poetic realism emerges from Marina’s inner world, with surreal imagery reflecting her emotions-subtle and gentle, contrasting the thriller’s suspense.
Through Marina, we explore the weight of adult responsibilities placed on a 13-year-old. Marina’s desire represents my memories of discovering my queer identity as I followed my hunk neighbour around. The film Heart in your throat is about growing up suddenly, and examines sexuality as a way of escape.
Company Profile
Film House Bas Celik was established in 1998 and by 2024 we have produced and co-produced more than 30 feature films, several documentaries and short films. Our productions include “The Trap” directed by Srdan Golubovic (2007. Berlinale Forum, 22 international awards and was shortlisted for the Best Foreign Film Oscar), “Clip” directed by Maja Miloš (Tiger Award at 2012 Rotterdam IFF), “Circles” directed by Srdan Golubovic ( Special Jury Prize at Sundance 2013., Prize of Ecumenical Jury at Berlinale Forum 2013.) and the latest production feature film “Father” directed by Srdan Golubovic (Prize of Ecumenical Jury and Audience Award at Berlinale Panorama 2020). EFA nominated Goran Bogdan for Best Actor Award for his role in “Father”.
Films we produced were screened at more than 900 festivals worldwide and won more than 200 international film awards. Savina Smederevac and Danilo Mladenović worked on many projects in Film house Baš Čelik, developing both short films and feature length films. The Faculty of Dramatic Arts is a constituent institution of the University of Arts in Belgrade which focuses on education and research in the fields of film, theatre, dramaturgy, culture, radio, acting and media. It was established in 1948, as the first faculty of this type in Yugoslavia.