Meet the participants
Dignitas
Leo Vitasović: ‘Youth Film Festival is an excellent start for high school students who want to get into film’
A student from Zagreb X. Gymnasium, Leo Vitasović, is preparing to enrol into the Academy of Dramatic Arts and his greatest desire in life is to do what he most loves doing - film. At last year's Youth Film Festival together with his colleague Jozo Jozipović, he won best director award with the film 'Heavy colours', and this is not the first award with which he can boast. He actively participates in the organization of this year's 20th Youth Film Festival and 8th FRFF which will be held from June 23 to 27 in Karlovac, and after we heard that this promising and ambitious young director has already produced fifty films, we had no choice but to ask him from where he draws his energy and inspiration for all his film works.
Filip Mayer, Goran Grgić, Leo Vitasović
When did your love of film start?
Leo: When I was 5 or 6 years old, I watched cartoons with my grandma and I began to question her how all these things work and what their purpose is. She explained that the goal of every film, no matter how short, and whatever type or genre, is to convey any information/message to the viewer. I did not quite understand because I was probably too small for that, but this was enough to interest me in film. In second grade I had already made my first short film. When I showed my friends and family I realized what my grandmother meant by "conveying information" and that's when I knew that I wanted to work in film.
Considering that you have already made around fifty films, could you tell us which one is your favourite?
Leo: My favourite film is the latest one - 'Voicemail'. In each new film I try to outdo myself and take "a bigger bite". I can objectively say that 'Voicemail' is my best film so far, but I'm sure that I invested the most effort and work in it and that the process of its creation was the longest and most detailed in comparison to other films so far.
Do you have directing role models and which actors would you like to work with in the future?
Leo: My biggest role models are Stanley Kubrick and Danny Boyle. As for the actors, frankly, I would like to continue to work with actors I worked with so far. Each of them brings a part of them into the film, and thus complements my vision. I always try to give them as much space and "material" as possible to build their own characters and create their background stories. I do not want them to serve them everything, the actors are not here only to say the text, but in my opinion, they should be involved in the creative process behind each of their lines in the film.
Leo Vitasović, Fran Grgić, Goran Grgić
Last year you and your colleague Jozo Jozipović took the award for best director for 'Heavy colours' at the 19th Youth Film Festival. How does it feel to be the best young director of YFF?
Leo: It felt great to be the best director! An amazing feeling when after so much work and "hassle" you get credit for your efforts - it personally means a lot, but I know there are a lot of things to learn and areas where I can improve. I do not do films to get awards, but my goal with every film is to convey the message and force the viewer to think about it. The award we received for 'Heavy colours' does not belong only to me, but to the whole team who worked on this film. I cannot allocate people on merit and it would be unfair to do that, just as I do not consider myself or Jozo most important - because I know that everyone invested time and effort in making the film.
According to you, are YFF and FRFF a good launching platform for young high school students who want to make films?
Leo: Definitely yes, but not only for those who get awards but to everyone who appears at the Festivals and are honest and communicative. I met an incredible number of people with similar ambitions and of course, I haven't had the chance to work with all of them, but it's very nice to see you're not alone in the area that you love and that motivates me. It is great in the organization of the festivals in Karlovac that there are a lot of workshops and organized gatherings where there is lots of opportunity for socializing and getting to know the young colleagues. I'm sorry that it doesn't last longer!
How important is it that education of film art starts already in primary and secondary schools?
Leo: It is. We are constantly exposed to some media content - from TV all the way to our smart phones. From those short, annoying commercials to jumbo posters - these are all features that shape our society and set standards and expectations. Perhaps the simplest examples are women's magazines that dictate how we should look and how we should behave. In my opinion it is just horrible and that is why we should have a subject at school to explain to us how to defend ourselves from it and how to become aware of ourselves. Maybe then people would go less to folk clubs.
Vini Jurčić, Leo Vitasović, Matija Trcak
What do you expect from this year's Youth Film Festival and Four River Film Festival?
Leo: This year I expect a lot of contacts and re-establishing old ties with people I haven't seen for a while. I am happy that I will see new films. I always somehow remember what it all looked like about 6 years ago when I first came to the festival and how the quality of work increases every year, and I do not mean just on the technical aspects, although they are very important to me personally.
Recently you held a premiere of your new film 'Voicemail' which entered in the competition of this year's Youth Film Festival. What is that project about?
Leo: In Croatia children from orphanages have to go out of their homes and stay in the street after the age of 18 and after finishing high school. Inspired by the foundation 'Your email' and since these young people are our peers, we have decided to do a humanitarian action called "Youth for Youth", which in general aims to inform the public about the problem and collects money for a single ward. In order to present that topic more effectively we decided to shoot the feature film 'Voicemail'.
In the end, what are your plans for the future?
Leo: Admission to the Academy of Dramatic Arts, and continuing to make my own movies. With 'Voicemail' I found one genre of film which I wasn't aware of - socially engaged film which makes the viewer aware of a problem and offers him a concrete way in which he can solve this problem. In the case of 'Voicemail' it means donating funds to help orphaned children. Our society has a lot of room for positive changes, and they can really be inspired by film.