Sead Šabotić: Empty houses speak volumes

The short documentary film "Nekome svome" (Ours) by the young Montenegrin director Sead Šabotić will be premiered at this year's 12th edition of the International Documentary Film Festival "Beldocs", which starts tomorrow and lasts until May 15 in Belgrade. The world premiere of Šabotić's production, whose protagonists are members of his immediate family, will be held on Monday, May 13, in the Belgrade Cultural Center Hall, at 19 p.m., and will also be on the program a day later at the "Fontana" cinema at the same time.

"The film, 'Someone's Own' brings a story about caring for one's ancestors and descendants, which is presented through the story of a Montenegrin married couple who visit the estate of their origin, where now are the houses of relatives who live abroad, and which are visited only by this couple during the year ", the description of the film states.

This completely intimate and personal film was created as part of the author's research on our emigrants, whose outlines are still visible in Montenegro. In an interview with "Vijesti", he points out that the attitude of our emigrants towards the homeland has been of interest to him for some time

In addition to this premiere, Šabotić will be part of the industrial part of the festival, i.e. the "Beldocs academy" program, within which he will also present his debut feature-length project "Family for a limited time", produced by Code Blue Production.

At Beldocs, you will present two of your films - the short film "Ours" in the "Landscape" selection and the project "Once upon a family" in the industrial part of the "Beldocs academy" festival. Given that you have already participated in festivals and won awards, do you now have any expectations ahead of the festival, perhaps especially when it comes to a feature film?

I don't have any special expectations. In the industrial part of the program, multi-day workshops and preparations for the final public presentation of the project, which is still under development, await us. In this sense, my expectations are based on presenting this project as well as possible. Therefore, the opinions of long-term professionals certainly contribute to seeing perhaps some aspects that were less visible to us until now. Simply that interaction with colleagues contributes to the fact that you also hear opinions from the outside, which are sometimes very important.

As for the film "Nekome svome", I can say that I am very glad that its premiere on the big screen will be in Belgrade, at Beldocs! We will see on May 13 what we actually did and how the audience will react to our film.

How would you like to present the film "Family for a Time" to the readers, and how much can be deduced from the title?

"Temporary Family" is a fairytale documentary about the unusual love of two people. All in all, it will be a strange film, we plan for it to be on the verge of an experimental documentary, which will be diverse in terms of genre.

I am collaborating on this film with producer Bojana Radulović, with whom I will present this project at Beldocs. We are currently in the preparation phase and we hope that the shooting will follow as soon as possible.

The film "Nekome svome", above all else, I would say, represents an intimate and personal film, a story close to you... Am I wrong?

Exactly. Members of my immediate family are also the main protagonists of this docu-drama. This film was created as part of my research on our emigrants whose outlines are still visible in Montenegro. For some time now, I have been interested in the attitude of our emigrants towards their homeland. This film was created as a reflection on the topic of how their actions reflect on the family members who stayed where they are. I decided to make it an intimate story for the simple reason that a good part of my family embarked on migration. The search for a better life took them in different directions. On the other hand, I deeply believe that documentaries are excluded autobiographical in some sense, although they do not necessarily deal with intimate details from the life of the director or people close to him by blood, as is the case with this film. In the end, this is also a bit of a film about how, in fact, insurmountable is the painful moment of the separation of a family. Relationships cease to exist due to too much distance, and it seems to me that this feeling is dominant in this film.

In the end this is a film of metaphors, my protagonists are cleaning and preparing houses ready for the expected return of relatives.

There is no speech in the film. The greatest form of communication is that of looking and understanding or anxiety that can be felt either in the play of the protagonist or through the music... How did you decide to make such a film, can you say silent, and did it set additional criteria and challenges?

I wouldn't call it a silent film, more a film with a deliberate absence of dialogue. In this respect, the word as a means of expression was not a solution for me. In other words, the dialogue seemed superfluous to me, something that would take away an already clearly enough exposed emotion. I wanted to show with actions everything that the idea of ​​the film contains. Sometimes it's difficult, I don't even know if I succeeded, to be honest. After all, it is not for me to judge my own work.

Nowhere does it directly talk about what the film deals with, but it is clear, I would say with some intuitive and empathetic way of viewing that a film like this requires. To what extent is the theme of your film, which you may feel privately, a frequent and expected occurrence so that viewers recognize it? And did it happen that the viewers gave you a completely unusual view of the film, and if so, can you reveal anything?

Anyone who stayed in the Balkans to fight for their existence will understand this film. Deep down, leaving the country you were born in is a clear political stance.

A small circle of people have seen this movie so far. Perhaps the best observation was made by my friend from Iran, a young director, who told me that this is the same feeling his parents have every time they think of their closest relatives who emigrated. Simply, this is a problem that is universal, no matter where we are. The essence of the problem is the same.

Perhaps it was precisely the absence of words in the film that led to some weight or tension, some energy that seems to correspond with the empty, temporarily abandoned houses... Is there any correlation to be found in that silence and emptiness, and what should viewers conclude from it? , if you had something in mind?

The goal was not to create tension or heaviness. The situation is just like that. It's not talked about, it's not commented on, it's something you carry inside you. They are there to clean the houses and prepare them for their return. And silence in their action is a normal phenomenon.

Empty houses of families who left for the "white world" to build a better future and lives for themselves and their children are frequent "monuments" of such practice in Montenegro. The emptiness and dust in those houses, do they and how much do they say about life here, in special areas, and how do you see it?

Empty houses say a lot, even that is obvious! I don't think they build monuments to themselves. Building houses for them represents the revival of emotions that stayed with them long ago where they left. In that sense, those houses are significant for them. That incomprehensible connection with the roots is strange to many. Maybe it's meaningless to someone, but to them it's everything. Our country is increasingly full of such houses, especially the north of Montenegro. Unfortunately, it is.

Given that the film is closer to you and that you devoted yourself to it, did you feel the need and in what way to tell this story?

Only to say what is on my mind at the time. That was the topic I was dealing with at the time.

There are more and more departures. As a young director, would you also look for success and happiness somewhere outside and how many opportunities are offered to you here?

For now, I certainly wouldn't, but I also don't rule out the possibility of leaving. My job is such that you can do film anywhere

Documentaries move me more than feature films

Based on your previous engagements, it seems to me that you are particularly interested in the documentary sphere of cinematography, or is that just a misleading conclusion after this and the film about the House of Revolution in Nikšić?

I profiled myself only now as a documentary filmmaker who started to deal with that form more seriously. I don't know how long it will take. I found something in the documentary that moves me much more than the feature film, although I honestly think it's time to make a feature film.

Are you currently working on something and can we expect the presentation of your feature-length project in Montenegro?

In addition to "Family for a fixed period of time", I am working on another project in Serbia. It is also a documentary form. It is a film about a prison or prisoners. It is a very specific project, and for confidentiality and security reasons, I am not allowed to reveal anything more.