Private Project

90-60-90

The video-essay 90-60-90 was created as the author's response to the increasingly brutal and subtle trend of objectification of the woman's body which has been established throughout the media and, consequently, in real life. The video’s key structural elements include:
- Four female voices, each representing a specific view of the woman (mythological, sociological, personal, empirical). In addition, there is a voice of an accidental male passer-by with a viewpoint of his own. The sequences are recorded in black and white, as these are subjective voices that are attenuated by the generally adopted stereotype of women. The female voices are interconnected by the element of water as a traditional symbol of femininity.
- Billboards and web news headlines that scorn and turn women into sexual objects are omnipresent. To a large extent, the media present women as bodies – perfect, young, naked, sexy, and ultimately photoshopped bodies. Advertising literally everything. This is an insult and violence and it hurts. Unfortunately, these patriarchal patterns have deep roots and women themselves are often unaware of their own compliance with the negative attitudes.
- The performance of two young female dancers denotes the harmony of body and soul, and the author’s vision that the dignity, freedom and respect for women can be re-established. After all, this is also for the benefit of men, despite their privileged positions in the society. The distorted image of women deprives them of real and authentic values. Only a free and integral human being is able to build vigorous, democratic and joyful society and relationships.
The last two elements are recorded in colour, juxtaposed and competing, with the hope that the concept of dignity and integrity will overcome.

  • Andrejka Skračić
    Director
  • Andrejka Skračić
    Writer
  • Andrejka Skračić
    Producer
  • Jasmina Kvasina-Dragičević
    Key Cast
  • Marija Pelaić
    Key Cast
  • Mirjam Jurčev
    Key Cast
  • Andrejka Skračić
    Key Cast
  • Vana Skračić
    Key Cast
  • Brigita Prančić
    Dancer
  • Adriana Bulj
    Dancer
  • Josipa Lujanović
    Choreography
  • Andrejka Skračić
    Editor
  • Andrejka Skračić
    Cinematographer
  • Mislav Skračić
    Cinematographer
  • Ante Stošić: Kurnatska kiša / Rain at Kornati
    Music
  • Ludwig van Beethoven: Bagatelle No. 25 - For Elise, performed by Matea Lombardić
    Music
  • Ludwig van Beethoven: Piano Sonata no. 8 in C minor 'Pathetique', Op. 13 - II. Adagio cantabile, performed by Paul Pitman
    Music
  • Ludwig van Beethoven: Moonlight Sonata, Op. 27 No. 2 - I. Adagio sostenuto, performed by Paul Pitman
    Music
  • Vana Skračić
    Poster Design
  • Davor Vodopija
    English subtitles
  • Project Type:
    Documentary, Short, Other
  • Runtime:
    19 minutes
  • Completion Date:
    March 8, 2018
  • Production Budget:
    200 EUR
  • Country of Origin:
    Croatia
  • Country of Filming:
    Croatia
  • Language:
    Croatian
  • Shooting Format:
    MiniDV
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Black & White and Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
  • London International Monthly Film Festival
    London
    United Kingdom
    Honorable Mention
Director Biography - Andrejka Skračić

» I was born on 22nd July 1967. in Šempeter pri Gorici, Slovenia. After graduating from Tolmin High School in 1986, I moved to Ljubljana. I became engaged in professional mountain climbing and took part in the expeditions to Patagonia (twice) and Yosemite Park, USA, where I started to film and edit documentary materials.
» From autumn 1994 to spring 1995 I attended the Film and Video Seminar / Laboratory organised by ZKOS (Alliance of Slovenia’s cultural associations). I participated in a number of documentary projects as a screenwriter, camerawoman, editor and director. Since 2001 I have been living in Split, Croatia, with my husband Mislav and daughter Vana.
» When I was young I thought that I would dedicate my life to literature – the only world of art that was available to me at the time. By the end of my high school days I fell in love with mountain climbing and had the opportunity to explore some of the most amazing scenery of our Blue Planet. It was the period when I searched for freedom and the meaning of life, when I encountered inspiring people, love, as well as difficult challenges and ordeal. I was not sure whether I should write, climb, make photographs... until I found myself in film. Actually, I could say that the film found me as I never thought I would start writing screenplays, learn how to use the camera, do the editing, become a director. It was a perfect twist of fate because making films has turned out to be the best way to express ideas and tell the stories that haunt me. I truly believe that the art of film can considerably contribute to the development of society and a better world.
» I am engaged in independent film and video projects.
» I like photography, writing poetry, mountain climbing and hiking, traveling.

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

A number of reasons have made me dedicate the video-essay 90-60-90 to the woman and her body. The very beginning of this issue goes way back in the past, when I was a young woman protesting against how the mainstream media distorted the notion of the woman’s body, objectifying and scorning it. I felt quite lonely and excluded because I couldn’t accept the social standards and stereotypes imposed by my family and community. I perceived myself as a human being, having equal rights as men in all areas of life, and not as an object having or striving to have the ideal 90-60-90 size. Over 25 years later, little has changed. Even worse, with the introduction of new media and technologies, the presentation of the woman and her body has become increasingly brutal and subtle. Likewise, the discrimination and negative behaviour patterns of the past have remained and accepted as social standards. For instance, I can quote a few headlines from the news websites that I have been visiting lately:
- Everyone was flabbergasted when they saw her in the shortest hot pants ever!
- One of the world’s most beautiful actresses is breath-taking in her red dress with a dangerous cleavage.
- At the curves market the shares of her attributes are going up!
- She posted a photo of her crotch.
- Everybody is talking about a transparent dress on which only little flowers covered her intimate parts.
- The singer’s heiress is brutally sexy, on social networks she kills with luscious breasts and long legs.
As I like walking, I started to pay attention and photograph the billboards along my route. Beautiful female bodies were advertising literally everything, from apparel to air conditioning equipment! So I thought how sick it is, in this 21st century, to keep perceiving women as bodies – perfect, young, naked, sexy, and ultimately photoshopped. Presenting the woman in such a scornful and insulting way is the promotion of gender inequality. Moreover, the media heavily impact our sub-consciousness – we tend to accept unreal, photoshopped and fake patterns, and then try to transfer them in real life. Of course they don’t work that way. Societies tolerating discrimination and media ignoring responsibility and ethical limits encourage hate speech, sexism and violence, and cause huge damage to real individuals.
It is high time to give the woman’s body the dignity, respect and freedom it deserves. I would like to see women perceived as real, capable, valuable, ambitious, intelligent and sensitive persons who are beautiful in their own peculiar ways, and who, in addition to the external beauty, have their dreams, visions, and voice. As a woman, I need to be safe, free and recognised, and have equal rights because, after all, I am just a human being.

An afterthought:
Considering the social and business environment in which female film makers create, I would like to thank my family and all the participants who supported this project and did their best to help me complete the film and enable my voice to be heard.
As for the environment, here are some figures that speak for themselves: In 72 years of the Cannes Film Festival, out of 87 women and 1881 men who have had their feature films competing for a Palme d’Or, only one woman has won the prestigious top prize (Jane Campion for The Piano in 1993). Throughout the 91-year history of the Academy Awards, only five women have ever been nominated for the Best Director Oscar. In 2010, Kathryn Bigelow was the first female filmmaker to win the prize (for directing The Hurt Locker, which also ended up winning Best Picture). BBC gathered data from ten most relevant film festivals worldwide from 1990 to 2018, finding out that 74% of the award-winning films featured male key roles. USA TODAY surveyed 843 women who work in the entertainment industry in a variety of roles (producers, actors, writers, directors, editors and others). Nearly all of the women who responded to the survey (94%) say they have experienced some form of harassment or assault, while more than one-fifth of the respondents (21%) say they have been forced to do something sexual at least once. In Croatia, the country where I come from, the figures are sobering as well: at Pula Film Festival, established in 1954, only 2.7% of female directors have been nominated for Zlatna Arena (the best film award) and no woman has ever won the prize. A total of 209 feature films made in Croatia from 1990 to 2019 had 7% female directors, 12% screenwriters and 2.6% directors of photography.

See more at:
https://www.festival-cannes.com/en/
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Academy_Award_for_Best_Director
https://eu.usatoday.com/story/life/people/2018/02/20
HAK Revija, No. 288/289, June-July 2019, pp. 72-73.