‘Sanrema’ director Miroslav Mandić spoke about Slovenia’s Oscar hope – The Hollywood Reporter
How does the filmmaker face the challenges of portraying and dramatizing the complex and emotional state of dementia? Bosnian – born Bosnian writer and director Miroslav Mandić responded to the challenge with Sanremo, which focuses on an elderly man named Bruno (Sandi Pavlin) who lives in a nursing home. Despite his growing dementia, Bruno is capable of the love and connection he finds with Duša (Silva Čušin), who creates a collage as part of his therapy. The couple’s strongest connection turned out to be a beautiful Italian tune from the 1960s, “Non ho l’età,” which Bruno first heard at the very popular Sanremo music festival. Music and other elements evoke strong memories of people who seem to live in a constant present.
Hollywood Reporter collaborator Robert Koehler interviews Mandič, via THR represents, powered by Vision Media, to discuss the origin, origin and significance of this intimate film, which Slovenia has chosen for the Oscar for Best International Film.
narrates Mandic THR that the film was inspired by his visits to his uncle, who lived in a nursing home in Zagreb, Croatia. “He was always our family doctor,” says Mandić, “and I visited him regularly out of gratitude for everything he did for us growing up. One day I asked him if he could come out of his room and go to this beautiful garden I saw outside his window. We sat outside together and I saw this image of him, with the sun and the chirping of birds, and he was smiling and appreciating it all. This embrace with nature that he felt was more promising than all the therapies and medications he was taking. That’s where Sanremo started. “
The director’s method of writing is “intuitive,” he explains, adding that if I “thought about not doing this or that, it would be reductive for me. My first draft involves a little research. I leave it alone for a few weeks, and then, if I feel like I really have something, I seriously research the second draft, which becomes the final script.
In this research, too, Mandić finds that he relies more on images and sounds than on dialogue in dramatizing his ideas. “I have word problems,” he says. “Whenever I have the opportunity to present something to viewers in a visual way, I take advantage of it.” He believes this complements the essence of the film. “For me, this film relies on pure emotions,” he adds. “Not only can Bruno and the Soul not remember who they met yesterday, they don’t even know how to rationalize. That’s nice to me. They both rely on pure emotion now. “
Mandic himself becomes emotional when he discovers during this conversation that the scenes between Bruno and his daughter are based on his own tense and loving experiences with a sick mother. “This is a discovery for me, which (we just talked about.) I haven’t realized yet. Wow. ”
This edition of THR Presents is presented by Filmostovje and Incipit Film.