Sandbag Dam

Marko doesn’t have much of a plan for the future: life in a small Croatian village suits him perfectly. He’ll probably marry his girlfriend, look after his younger brother, and work with his father at the auto shop. Maybe someday he’ll win an arm-wrestling championship—and that’s all he needs to be happy. Or does he? With the return of Slaven, Marko’s best friend from childhood and first love, suddenly nothing is so certain. The level of suppressed desires rises just like the river near the village, but while the neighbors work together to build a dam against the flood, Marko is completely alone with his emotions. If only he could surround them with sandbags to keep them from breaking free! In her feature debut, director Čejen Černić Čanak presents an authentic yet fragile story about the search for inner freedom in a conservative environment. Her film premiered at the Berlinale and was a hit at the Pula Film Festival in Croatia.