Mare, directed by Andrea Štaka, will open the 67th Pula Film Festival this evening. The film crew held a press conference today at Circolo.

Actresses Marija Škaričić and Ivana Roščić spoke about the film.

"Mare has had great success at Berlin Film Festival, and was awarded in the Panorama Section. 

“Since then, it is as if our whole worlds have changed, as well as our lives. And it was only six months ago”, said lead actress Marija Škaričić. After Berlin, the life of the film also came to a halt. It was recently screened at Sarajevo Film Festival, but only online, and Škaričić is looking forward to seeing the reactions from the audience at the Arena this evening.

Marija Škaričić and director Andrea Štaka have been working together from 2005, when they worked on the film Das Fräulein, and later on on the film Cure - The Life of Another. “She is very talented, but also demanding, and working on the film was comprehensive. You know, I am demanding as well,” said Škaričić and added that a lot has changed in their lives in the last 15 years, which has reflected on the two of them.

Working on this film has been very personal for both of them because they were digging through one another in order to observe the internal positions of a woman.

The film is a universal story that many people will relate to, and it is set in a very specific environment next to an airport.

Along with Mare, an important character in the story is her best friend Šima, played by Ivana Roščić. “After the casting for this film, I had to go and do another filming, but Andrea was persistent and in the end I was able to do Mare as well”, she said.

She was persuaded to do this film by the screenplay, which puts the female character front and centre, which she was thrilled to see. It was a pleasure to work alongside Marija. The two have worked together before, but never in the same scene. The film was filmed two years ago, and Roščić is looking forward to watching it for the first time at the Arena.

Goran Navojec is the lead actor, and Polish actor Mateusz Kościukiewicz is in the male supporting role.

She is especially pleased with the performance by Mirjana Karanović, who plays her mother. “It’s easy to work with her, just like with Ivana, because we understand each other, we belong to the same world”, said Marija Škaričić.

The two actresses hope that Mare will soon be released in cinemas, even though the situation with cinema screenings is currently very uncertain.