What Iva Recorded – Sto je Iva snimila 21.listopada 2003. (2005)

Directed by: Tomislav Radic | 92 minutes | drama | Actors: Anja Sovagovic-Despot, Ivo Gregurevic, Boris Svrtan, Masha Mati Prodan, Barbara Prpic, Karl Menrad, Adam Koncic

What is strong about ‘What Iva Recorded’ is that Iva is an observer when necessary, but that her own self also emerges in the camera work, so to speak. She occasionally makes vicious comments on things, as befits a fifteen-year-old teenager, but persists in filming so consistently that she actually manages to ‘caught’ the people she films, because they no longer realize that the camera is running. It could of course also be that people have a tendency to want to tell their story. So it’s believable that Iva can (mostly) continue filming, despite some protests here and there. At certain moments she really has to capitulate, but she (and the real filmmaker) have found nice solutions for that. This form is reminiscent of the found footage principle that has become more and more popular in recent years. Good examples of strong films in this genre are ‘The Blair Witch Project’ (1999), ‘Rec’ (2007) and ‘Cloverfield’ (2008). These were all horrific stories where it was given that some things ended up on amateur images by accident or otherwise and were found later. ‘Zusje’ (1995) also cleverly used the principle of a film that was shot entirely on inferior film material, only there, as in ‘What Iva Recorded’, there is no question of a horror story and ‘found’ material.

This film is mainly a story about a girl who is going through puberty and is surrounded by what she sees as hysterical adults. As such, the film is also a mirror to the grown-ups among us, who are shown that these people are essentially quite normal and that Iva is somewhat right. On the other hand, we do see that we are dealing with people from the Balkans. These are less ‘reasonable’ than other Europeans, their temperament sometimes plays tricks on them. Everyone plays natural, which gives the film the feeling of a documentary, again a plus in this case. Still, this isn’t a perfect movie. And why not? Because the beautiful, cinematic, supporting means such as light, sound and music are occasionally missing. From time to time the tension drops a bit and you get the feeling that the experiment has lasted long enough. In addition to strengths such as originality and the need for creativity, this genre also has drawbacks. There is no music and the picture quality is mediocre. Yet you get used to this faster than you think and that is good to know for anyone who is thinking of making a film with their own digital camera. Please note: the quality of the cameras used here is still slightly above that of consumer models. Then you probably know. And if you really intend to make such a film, make sure to add a little more tension, use some crazy effects or make it fifteen minutes shorter.