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A participative-observational documentary about the Croatian-Roma couple Tea and Mirsad, their daughter Frida and an attempt of a life together, stretched between family pressure and compromises they are both willing to make. Their respective endowments were economically and culturally practically incompatible, so they had to face an unrewarding challenge of balancing their family baggage in the form of previous generations’ legacy on the road between Croatia and Kosovo. Joined in their wish to find a solution for their families’ unrealistic expectations, Tea and Mirsad will embark on a complex game of adaptation, which will finally prove to be a burden in their own intimacy. This extremely personal and intimate film unmasks a series of family rituals, traditional stereotypes, even cultural racism, amidst which two people in love are trying to find the right measure between fulfilling the image their parents have and the need to stay true to themselves and live by their own values. Tea and Mirsad obstinately try to be obedient children to their parents and, at the same time, free-spirited parents to their daughter Frida, which seems an impossible task, all the love notwithstanding.
It's an extremely personal story. It's about me, my husband Mirsad, our daughter Frida and how our families reacted when faced with an unexpected marriage and a little girl who they now expect to raise based on their own cultural models. I started shooting almost for fun. Then the idea of a film made its way into me to show how a marriage between different cultures is possible. Over time the idea matured and what I took back became part of our relationship and a driver of dialogue with our families. Filming situations as they happen allows me maximum intimacy and a direct approach to our emotional affairs. I will film all intimate situations and conversations because this is the only way to represent us as we really are, in a direct and honest way. This immediacy, without acting, is the backbone of the film: our daily lives, conflicts, dramas and decisions, disagreements and reconciliations will appear raw and real.
