1.     The audience had a chance to see your debut short Snow White out of competition at the Zagreb Film Festival and in competition at the Motovun Film Festival, where it scooped up the Corto Montonese Award for Best Croatian Short. It also screened at an impressive number of festivals.

Did you always want to be a director? What attracted you to directing?

I never actually thought that I would direct films even though I had always been drawn to it. Since I was a child, I've always watched a lot of films and I've been a passionate spectator for years. My many years of experience on set helped me immensely when I was first starting out directing. For years I observed how the directors with whom I worked did it, and with time, I started feeling confident in the idea that I could do it. That's pretty much how it happened.  

2.     You have just finished making your second short on the island of Vis – . Can you tell us a bit more about it?

The film is a story about Karla who returns to her native island after many years. I have just got back from Vis so the impressions are still fresh. It was an amazing experience, the crew I worked with – all the people in front and behind the camera – are vastly talented and such incredible professionals. It was truly a pleasure.

3.     You have written scripts for several shorts and in 2020 you won the Golden Arena for Best Screenplay at the Pula Film Festival with your debut feature Tereza37. You also play the lead in the film.  

Was the fact that you star in the film for which you also wrote the screenplay a blessing or a curse? Where did you come up with the inspiration for writing Tereza37?

I collected the inspiration growing up in Dalmatia, observing the women in my immediate or broader surroundings. At first I thought it would be a bit weird to star in the film that I also wrote, but in fact it was incredibly easy, I hadn’t expected that. It’s probably because I knew the material so well. And the process of working on that film was also wonderful.  

4.     To the public you are still best known for your acting performances. At last year’s Pula Film Festival, you won the Golden Arena for Best Leading Actress for your role in Arsen Oremović’s The Head of a Big Fish.

When will we have a chance to see it at cinemas? What sort of role are you playing? Tell us more about your character and the film.

The film will hit the cinemas later this month, so the audience will have a chance to catch it very soon. I play Vesna, a woman who, together with her husband Andrija, takes Andrija’s brother into their home, only to have it completely disrupt the dynamics of their lives. I really love this film and it was another great collaboration I was fortunate to work on. I’m really so pleased to have a chance to work with such amazing professionals such as director Arsen Oremović and fellow cast members Nikša Butijer and Neven Aljinović – Tot.

5.     You are also preparing your first feature, which you are writing and directing – Eve After the Fall. Tell us a bit more about the film, what phase is it in at the moment?

I am currently in editing on “Sola” and my brain is working overtime because I’ve already started preparing Eve as well. This spring will start casting several of the roles and after the summer we will start preparations for the filming. It is a story about a woman who, prompted by a natural disaster, decides to turn her life around and make a fresh start.

6.     In the future do you see yourself primarily as a director, a screenwriter or an actress? Or would you like to develop future projects and your skills in all three?

I see myself in all three of these roles and all of them make me happy. I will never give up on acting and a good project will always be a welcome challenge for me as an actress. But it’s not about professions as such – somebody said it, I can’t remember who – but you shouldn’t think of yourself in terms of nouns, like actress, writer, or director, but rather verbs – as a person who acts, writes or directs, and that is one and the same person, so I see no reason why I would not do all three. And much more.