SCENES WITH MY FATHER

SCENES WITH MY FATHER

Netherlands, Croatia / 2022 / 46′

DIRECTED BY: Biserka Šuran

CINEMATOGRAPHY: Abel van Dijk

EDITED BY: Nina Graafland

MUSIC: Eren Önsoy

PRODUCER: Biserka Šuran

PRODUCED BY: Biser Productions

FESTIVALS & AWARDS: IDFA: Best Dutch Film (2022), Trieste FF: Best Documentary (2023)

In Scenes with My Father filmmaker Biserka Šuran takes her father on a trip down the memory lane in which she revives scenes from their country of birth, former Yugoslavia. Memories are reflected in cinematic decor sets in which they converse about nationality, identity, love, dreams, and regrets. Love letters, archive material, and anecdotes from family members give the audience an insight into the trials and tribulations the family experienced when they were forced to leave their home country. This symbolic road trip therapeutically heals wounds from the past as the director and daughter Biserka creates space to relate to her father’s experience and inevitable choices. The result is an inspiring conversation that many viewers might like to have with their parents.

Biserka Šuran (Yugoslavia, 1989) is a Dutch-Croatian film director, living and working in Amsterdam. In 2015 Biserka graduated as a documentary director from the Netherlands Film Academy with the short Allez, Viens. Scenes with My Father, her debut film, premiered at the International Documentary Festival in Amsterdam in the Envision Competition and won the prize for Best Documentary at the Trieste Film Festival.