Ita Turns 30

“Happy birthday to you…” sing friends and family gathered around a cake with a candle shaped like a large thirty. Everyone waits for Ita to blow, instead of blowing, a desperate scream bursts out. Ita wakes up. It was only a nightmare. The party is tonight. She is still 29. As she spends the day preparing in her apartment—cleaning, shopping, setting glasses—small encounters remind her of society’s expectations: a pharmacist offers anti-wrinkle cream, her mother calls to list everything she had at that age. Gradually reality begins to warp. Different versions of Ita’s possible futures appear around the apartment: a couple with a baby, friends discussing mortgages, others celebrating life without children, even her younger self dreaming of freedom. As evening approaches, they become guests at the party she increasingly fears. Panicked, Ita runs to the city’s edge, where a giant whale from her mom’s card says, ‘Fuck it. Ita returns to the party. This time, she blows out the candle.

Director’s statement
The idea for this film grew out of my own experience and conversations with friends as we approach the end of our twenties. I became aware of a quiet anxiety that appears when the feeling that “everything is possible” slowly begins to fade. We start to realize that time is not infinite and that every decision also means letting go of other possible versions of our lives.
Although the film revolves around a thirtieth birthday, it is not really about turning thirty, but about the moment when responsibility for one’s life suddenly feels very real. I explore this from a female perspective, where aging is often accompanied by expectations about motherhood, beauty, and timing.
Through animation, I move between external reality and the protagonist’s inner world, using humor and surreal imagery to approach existential questions with vulnerability and lightness. I believe the film offers a small sense of comfort — a reminder that we are not alone in these feelings.