Yulia & Juliet (2018)

Directed by: Zara Dwinger | 11 minutes | short film, drama | Actors: Sara Luna Zoric, Dylan Jongejans, Jaike Belfor, Suzan Boogaerdt, Issa de Jong, Cleo Duivelshof, Sjaan Flikweert, Nadja Hüpscher, Agnes Montecinos Muñoz, Dionne Verwey, Daan Westra, Lidija Zelovic

Zara Dwinger (1990) graduated from the Film Academy with her short film ‘Sirene’ (2017), about a teenager who pretends to be tough, but a girl suddenly discovers a completely different side of herself. ‘Sirene’ was selected for the international competition at the prestigious Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival and was also highly regarded elsewhere. A year earlier, Dwinger, a former anthropology student, filmed ‘Liv’ (2016), about a girl who finds herself in emotional turmoil because her parents are divorcing, just as she herself falls in love for the first time. The teenage phase, with its accompanying identity crisis, fascinates Dwinger. Discovering your sexuality, who you are, how you view life and the confusion that comes with it, are therefore a central theme in her work. She likes to let the viewer look over the shoulders of her protagonist, in order to draw them into their world. Her latest short film, ‘Yulia & Juliet’ (2018), which she shot as part of NTR Kort!, also responds to this familiar theme.

‘Yulia & Juliet’ gives a contemporary twist to Shakespeare’s classic tragedy ‘Romeo & Juliet’. The scene is a closed youth institution for girls, where Yulia (Sara Luna Zoric) and Juliet (Dylan Jongejans) find refuge in their love for each other. Their troubled relationship with their mothers (the fathers are completely absent from this story), their difficulties in making something of their lives; everything fades into the background as soon as they see each other. What exactly they have on their tally that they ended up in the institution is irrelevant. All that matters is the budding love they feel for each other. “You are the sun,” says Yulia. “Don’t be so poetic,” Juliet replies, as they kiss in an unguarded moment. In the juvenile detention center there is not really room for a love affair, but when Juliet is told that she can go home, the young lovers are completely torn apart. Yulia desperately tries to stop the release, only to end up in solitary confinement herself. Can the girls pick up their love again later, if Yulia is allowed to go outside the walls of the institution again? Or is it better if they reunite on familiar terrain, safe from the evil outside world?

Knowing that ‘Yulia & Juliet’ is based on one of Shakespeare’s best-known (and most filmed) tragedies, you won’t be surprised that the girls are willing to go far in their desire for a future together. With all its consequences. Dwinger succeeds without any difficulty in drawing us into the emotional world of these two teenagers. She did research into life in a closed youth institution and it paid off. In an environment where you feel very unhappy, having a beacon of hope and light is a lifeline to grab onto. Yulia and Juliet are each other’s life preservers. But then their fledgling happiness suddenly threatens to burst like a bubble. How intense and intense the girls experience this is convincingly made tangible thanks to the strong acting by Zoric and Jongejans. And while this is undeniably a tragedy, Dwinger still offers room for a glimmer of hope. The talented director worked together with the experienced screenwriter Jolein Laarman (known from ‘Katia’s sister’, 2008 and ‘Kauwboy’ 2012) and the two know how to bring out the best in each other.