TIFF 2016 Profile: Sanja Zivkovic
“That’s a good reason to make a film: because you need to do it.”
Film: CLEO
A female lead short film that also plays on the social constructs within the city of Toronto…? Yes, please. Of course we love to see women having a prominent role in film but when the film is set in Toronto, it does amp it up a little extra. As anyone who has spent a modicum of time in the GTA will know, living in a specific neighbourhood is a lot like being a part of a clan — and if you live in the “wrong” neighbourhood, people will let you know. Serbian-Canadian filmmaker Sanja Zivkovic understands beauty in differences, and focused on how location can define people in her latest short film. CLEO was created as part of the 2016 CFC Short Dramatic Film Program, and had its world premiere during TIFF as part of the Short Cuts Programme. And it’s playing now!
CLEO is about how we still judge a book by its cover through socio-economic standings and relationships…but it’s also a new meet-cute for millennials. The main characters, Cleo and Hassan, subtly challenge each other — it becomes a dance, back and forth, which slowly turns into flirting. We love this dramatic look at how individually we meet new people and how that ties into the current state of Toronto.
TELL US A LITTLE BIT ABOUT YOURSELF AND HOW YOU GOT INVOLVED WITH FILMMAKING.
Sanja Zivkovic: We moved from Serbia to Canada when I was six years old, and we did have a TV but we didn’t have cable. There was just one channel the antenna would catch and usually it was playing Mr. Bean or something. But we had a VCR and we could rent as many movies as we wanted. So I would just go across the street — and they knew me so well, they would just give me as many films as I wanted.
As a kid I did a lot of theatre — a lot of improv and little plays and stuff. I really liked acting and wanted to get into films and TV; I even had an agent at some point and went into auditions. But I never really got very far with that. And I remember thinking, “What if I got my own camera and shot some things with my friends?” It was more about I wanted to tell these stories I had. I even saved up money from work and bought this little one-chip camera, but it was good enough for what we were doing. It was then that I realized I prefer to be behind the camera.
WHAT WAS THE CFC SHORT FILM PROGRAM LIKE?
SZ: In 2015 I got into the Director’s Lab, which is an intense educational program where you get to learn with everyone else in the other labs. And I was during this time at CFC that the idea for CLEO came up, and I just had to make this film. There was no guarantee that I would get into the Short Film Program — I had to pitch the idea before I was accepted. But once I got in, it was an intense, fast process to make the short film.
I had a few ideas during the process but people seemed to latch onto this one the most. And I’m so glad I did move forward with CLEO because it did inspire me the most. It’s a great program and I definitely recommend it.
TELL US A LITTLE BIT ABOUT CLEO.
SZ: While I was working at CFC, I was walking around and I came up to this neighbourhood that did not resemble the rest of Toronto — or the idea of Toronto. It’s like you’re transformed into this totally different place with building blocks and this social-kinda-atmosphere. It brought me back to when I moved to Canada and I was living in B.C. — the atmosphere is very similar to where I lived, and I was connect to that place.
I wanted to tell a story that was based on that location and for the story to be really simple, like a slice-of-life story, but would be happening in this area. So it was the location that really inspired me to tell this story. A girl (Cleo), over Craigslist, goes to get a cellphone deal. She turns up in this new environment and is introduced to this totally different world, through this boy (Hassan), that she was kinda totally unaware of. And even though they are different, Cleo and Hassan have a connection and click in some way.
It is more of a film about atmosphere and location rather than it is about the actual story. The story is just there so we can see the location.
IPHONE OR ANDROID?
SZ: iPhone. Always iPhone.
TELL US ABOUT WHY YOU ARE A FEMINIST AND WHY IT’S IMPORTANT TO YOUR FILMMAKING.
SZ: I see myself as a director, and I happen to be a women as well. And because my stories are usually personal, I like to write about what I know. I know the female perspective a lot better than the male…although, of course I can use my imagination. It’s important to me more for personal reasons than anything. It’s because this is what I connect to, and I’m not going to try to make a film about something I don’t know or connect to.
WHAT WAS YOUR REACTION TO CLEO BEING SELECTED FOR THE TIFF SHORT CUTS PROGRAMME THIS YEAR?
SZ: It was great. I wasn’t expecting it and I didn’t even believe it for a while. I mean, I was hoping we would get in…But I literally didn’t tell anyone until it became official and they put out that press announcement. I didn’t want anyone to know because…I didn’t want to false advertise because I didn’t believe it for a while.
WHO ARE YOUR FAVOURITE WOMEN WORKING IN THE FILM INDUSTRY?
SZ: Two of my favourite women were at TIFF — both Andrea Arnold and Agnès Varda. I always use Andrea Arnold’s work as corollaries, and she has been the biggest inspiration for my work so far. She very true to her subject and I love how raw it can be. Agnès Varda stood out at such an important time. Lone Scherfig, who is another great example of a women standing up among all these men
Of course Sofia Coppola, whose work is so diverse. Charlotte Gainsbourg is a pleasure to watch on screen, and I find Scarlett Johansson so charming. And Lena Dunham, who is very funny…I find a lot of her stuff very brave, very different.
I find that most of the filmmakers I look up to — and this is by complete chance — happen to be women. And it’s because they tell these stories that I have some connection to.
IF A MOVIE ABOUT YOUR LIFE WAS CAST/CREATED, WHO WOULD STAR AS YOU AND WHAT GENRE WOULD IT BE?
SZ: I think Charlotte Gainsbourg…I like that she’s serious, like a little bit, but also charming. I want that kinda person to play me. I would love for the movie to be half real and half fantasy/surreal-type film; like The Science of Sleep, so it wasn’t too serious.
WHAT’S THE BEST ADVICE ABOUT FILMMAKING YOU’VE EVER RECEIVED?
SZ: Agnès Varda once said that these days it’s so easy to get a camera and film something, but you need to have to make a film to become a filmmaker. That’s a good reason to make a film: because you need to do it.
Another would be…I was actually talking to (previously #miniMUFF featured) Molly McGlynn, and we talked about how we learned a lot from our failures. I know it’s like a cliché that you hear from your professors and mentors, but there’s truth in there. It’s some of the best advice.
WHO IS THE BEST/SUPERIOR BATMAN?
SZ: During that time I was renting movies, Michael Keaton was Batman. That’s Batman for me, man.
PUT TOGETHER YOUR DREAM TEAM (WITH YOU IN ONE OF THE ROLES, OBVS!)
SZ: I don’t know…that’s a tough one. I’d love to have Christine Vachon produce my next film.
WHAT’S YOUR GO-TO JAM?
SZ: I love very mellow music, and I listen to “Let It Be” the most.
WHAT MALE POP CULTURE ICON OR MOVIE/TV CHARACTER ARE YOU DREAMING WOULD GET A GENDER-SWAP?
SZ: I feel that there’s a lot of new content that has prominent women roles, and I don’t feel that we have to turn the male roles into female. All of the shows I watch, like Transparent and Girls, has a lot of great female characters. If this continues I think it’s great.
YOU’RE CURRENTLY WORKING ON TWO FEATURE LENGTH MOVIES (MANUELA AND EASY LAND) RIGHT NOW. HOW DOES THAT FEEL?
SZ: It’s a huge, huge step. I wasn’t aware how big of a step it was before… because two short films ago, I was telling everyone one “this is my last short — next one’s a feature.” But it’s a big step, and I’m so eager to take it because I feel as though the last little while, most of my ideas have been bigger.
It’s good to have two projects because they are in different stages of development, so I have the freedom to move from one to the other if I want. But at some point I will have to focus on to the end.
RECOMMEND ONE #MUFFAPPROVED FILM FOR OUR BLOG READERS:
SZ: American Honey (2016, dir. Andrea Arnold)
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