DIVE

Short Talk with Ivan Malekin (director, writer and cinematographer) and Sarah Jayne (producer)

Croatia / 2024 / 14’59’’

BEST FICTION FILM Category

21st IN THE PALACE International Short Film Festival 2024

Synopsis: Leona, grappling with her father's departure, is taken to Zadar by her mother, Petra, who aims to distract from her own scandalous affair. There, Leona meets Andre, a vacationing teen from California, and Kris, a passing digital nomad, leading to complex interactions that challenge Leona's relationships and self-perception. Amidst the turmoil, Leona navigates her emotions, rebellious tendencies, and the complexity of new connections, culminating in a night that forces both mother and daughter to confront their choices and each other.

Biography: Ivan Malekin is a prolific producer, director and editor. Founder of Nexus Production Group, he has been making films since 2007, his work spanning from Australia to Europe to America, including improvised feature films like "Friends, Foes & Fireworks" (2018), "In Corpore" (2020), and "Machination" (2022), alongside the global web series "Life Improvised". Ivan, who transitioned to improvisational cinema in 2016, is also an educator in the craft, offering courses online and in-person. He published his debut book "Improv for Indie Filmmakers" in 2021.

Ivan Malekin, director

In The Palace: What inspired you to do a movie on such a topic?
 
Ivan Malekin (director): It actually became like this, because of the location of the film I wanted to use. We moved to Croatia back in 2021 in Zadar and then I saw the diving boards. I saw the kids diving and I knew that I wanted to do a story set in this location, just because I found it beautiful and it took a lot of time for the story to come together. Originally, it was about a father and his daughter, who tried to cheer him up and be the mother of the whole family. That just did not work out and many months passed and I left this story. Later I came back on it and it became a story about a daughter and mother relationship and it just started floating. 

 
 
In The Palace: What is the meaning behind the name „Dive“, why do you call it this way?
 
Ivan Malekin: That is the closest English translation for the title, it actually means: jumping or swimming underwater, and it is kind of like a parallel to the relationship between the mother and the daughter and the whole dynamic. For example, how the mother has slept with the uncle and put a strain on the relationship, because the father is alive and the whole family is “under water” at that moment. 

 
 
In The Palace: What were the challenges that you faced during filming?
 
Sarah Jayne (producer): Since I helped produce the film, I can talk about all the challenges. Basically we worked as a small crew, like two people, so the challenges were the lightning and getting everything done. That was the main challenge I think, and then the location was okay, maybe working outside was a bit tricky. 
 
Ivan Malekin: We did not need any permits or anything, and there were walking people in the shots, and the shots do not match, because of this. The sound was a big issue, since it was a bit windy one of the filming days.
 
Sarah Jayne: I was holding the reflector, because it was moving.
 
Ivan Malekin: I am amazed that it worked out!

Author's view (Petar Penev):

Often when a reconnection attempt is brought about unnaturally is when even more tension stars building in a relationship until the inevitable breaking point is reached. The road to hell is paved with good intentions, as the saying goes. Such paradox may be the necessary evil when all else fails as is presented in ‘Dive’.
 
Slowly built as a tennis like back-and-forth of insults and hurtful actions between a mother and a daughter, slowly but surly escalating, has to be a relatable or at least a familiar scenario for most. The root cause of the scandal is kept unclear as it doesn’t matter. The drive, though, is clear – no one is willing to admit their wrongdoing. Not even to ask the other side what is bothering them. Each ego grows greater as personal and collective boundaries go ignored. By the end of the film the emotional scarring is evident.
 
The rather hopeful ending of the film gives us the opportunity to look at things a little differently – what if all of the destruction was done so now we can start rebuilding what we had on a clean slate stronger than ever?