"December 32nd" is the first feature movie to come out of the Republika Srpska area, one of the two entities that make up Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Despite a low budget, director and screenwriter Saša Hajduković's enthusiasm, which was shared by the actors, cameramen, editors and producers, brought to life the story of three couples of lovers in Banja Luka in one New Year's night. Hajduković's movie draws its themes from the streets of Banja Luka and the array of different characters - from corrupt police officers, naive girls, to spoiled teenagers and frauds of all kinds. The title of the movie is dedicated to all those people who never seem to get from 31 December to 1 January, but somehow remain in 32 December. These are people who have chosen to escape into their own worlds.
Hajduković, a student of film directing at the Banja Luka Academy of Art, also wrote the script for the movie, together with writer Radmila Smiljanić and director Predrag Velinović. Hajduković told Southeast Europe: People and Culture how he got the idea for December 32nd: "The initial idea occurred to me as I was listening in on a conversation between a waitress and a gas station employee. They were about 30 years old, yet they were talking to each other and loving each other naively, like children. Some segments of their dialogue went into the movie... I decided that this was a kind of pure feeling as opposed to what I ordinarily witness and experience in this age that we live in. I imagined an end to their love story and the reason that it had to end that way. I later compounded other stories to the basic story and tried to portray more people, fashioning a circle in which everyone inflicts harm on everyone, yet no one is purely evil on their own.”
It took Hajduković two years to ready the scenario, assemble a team, pick staff and scrape up a budget of KM250,000 (around EUR125,000). "December 32nd" was shot in a month. "I was determined to make the movie and the deal that I had reached with the axis of the team was that we would make it no matter what. I take this as proof that movies can be made in Bosnia and Herzegovina, even better than if someone had come from abroad," said Hajduković.
Although the movie's budget was hardly enough to cover all of the costs, Hajduković explained that enthusiasm, a good atmosphere, and sheer will helped the crew navigate each crisis: "No one did it for the money; there was far too little money involved for that kind of a job. The entire crew had plenty of enthusiasm and enough faith in the story and my work," said Hajduković.
Aleksandar Stojković and Anja Stanić, Ljubiša Savanović and Dragana Marić, and Slobodan Perišić and Nikolina Đorđević play three couples desperately trying to emerge as new people in the New Year, yet failing and going on into a "December 32nd."
The movie was shown in Belgrade at this year's reputed FEST movie festival. "FEST happened to us spontaneously. Only now are we working on a serious distribution plan and sending the film to different festivals... We shall see. We are fairly inexperienced in the area of distribution, but I hope for the best," said the director.
Watch the movie trailer online here
www.youtube.com/watch
