Sandbag Dam / Zečji nasip

Marko has no grand plans for the future: life in a small Croatian village suits him just fine. He’ll probably marry his girlfriend soon, look after his younger brother, and work alongside his father in the auto shop. He might even win the arm-wrestling championship one day – and that seems to be all he needs to be happy. Or does it? When Slaven, Marko’s childhood best friend and first love, returns, nothing feels certain anymore. Suppressed desires rise like the nearby river. But while the villagers work together to build a dam against the flood, Marko has no one to help him deal with his emotions. If only he could sandbag them so they’d never escape! In her feature debut, director Čejen Černić Čanak delivers an authentic yet delicate story about the search for inner freedom in a conservative environment. The film premiered at Berlinale and went on to achieve success at the Pula Film Festival in Croatia.