Endless Summer

“Endless Summer” is a surreal and evocative exploration of sound and silence through the eyes of Maja, a young sound enthusiast visiting her grandmother on a small, Mediterranean island. The narrative unfolds through the auditory experiences of Maja as she is exploring and searching for the perfect sound for her sound composition. As Maja gets engrossed in capturing the sounds of the island, her actions disrupt the tranquil routine of her grandmother’s life. The contrast between Maja’s world of sound and her grandmother’s silence is evident in their daily interactions, revealing underlying fears and a shared, unspoken bond. The story takes a deeper emotional turn when Maja gifts her grandmother a modern hearing aid. Her grandmother’s initial resistance to the hearing aid uncovers her struggle to cope with the silence and her fear of the unknown.

Director’s statement
My lifelong fascination with sound, an invisible yet profoundly influential auditory sense, shapes the essence of this film. My hypersensitivity to sound has been both a challenge and a blessing, deepening my interest in how sound is perceived. This sensitivity has guided my exploration in various fields, including filmmaking, sound field recording, and sound design.
Creative process for this project began years ago on a Mediterranean Dalmatian island, in my grandmother's house. Observing her gradual hearing loss, I found inspiration in the contrast between her enveloping silence and my sensitivity to sound. Her space and silence became the root of my inspiration and it formed the foundation of the surrealistic narrative of the short animated film “Endless Summer”.
The film delves into generational conflict, exploring themes of belonging and detachment, differing from the stereotypical warmth associated with the term "grandmother". It portrays the grandmother and granddaughter in banal, slightly absurd situations, highlighting a world where the need for solitude coexists with the desire for connection and attention.

As a film director I wanted to go deeper with the animation technique, explore various ways of filmmaking and try to create this world in a more imaginative and creative way. The visual style of the film is combination of the animated characters and details with realistic backgrounds (photographs) from the island and house where my grandmother lived. This approach was chosen because it effectively bridges the gap between imagination
and reality. Because of this, the visual style not only enhances the storytelling but also symbolizes the characters' internal journeys and emotional growth. The animated characters represent their feelings of “not belonging”, while the realistic backgrounds provide a tangible context for these emotions. This combination underscores the interaction between internal experiences and external realities, enriching the narrative and deepening the audience's engagement with the characters’ development. “Endless Summer” is more than a search for the perfect sound; it's about the yearning for a connection: warmth, safety and love. This film aims to evoke nostalgia and the essence of childhood, thrive for a connection and, also, finding a peace in yourself.