05/07/2013 - Nejc Gazvoda presents his second feature following the success of A Trip.

Slovenian director Nejc Gazvoda’s second film Dual [+see also:
trailer
interview: Nejc Gazvoda
film profile], following the success of A Trip [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Jure Henigman
interview: Nejc Gazvoda
film profile], which screened at numerous international festivals scooping several awards, premiered in the East of the West competition of the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival. This Slovenian-Danish-Croatian co-production tackles similar issues as the director’s first film- the disillusioned 20-somethings in today’s Europe, traveling as means of escape, and the elusiveness of emotions.

The story follows two young women who meet by accident and develop a special relationship. Slovenian Tina (Nina Rakovec, who also starred in A Trip) is driving an airport bus as a summer job when she meets Iben (Mia Jexen, best known for The Reunion [+see also:
trailer
film profile]) from Denmark, who gets stuck in Ljubljana when her flight to Greece is cancelled. They strike up an intense relationship which hovers in an undefined space between friendship and romance, but is certainly not just another lesbian love story.

Tina is also applying for a job in a big company but finding Iben inspires her to give it up, and go with her in search of freedom. They spend a whole day together, doing nothing in particular, but bonding intensively. There is a very interesting scene in a bar when they say important things to each other in their own languages. And while they don’t understand each other, the audience does, thanking to subtitles. In this inspired maneuver by Gazvoda, we learn of Iben’s secret which gives us a new perspective and glimpse at Iben’s motives to just drop everything, take all her money and get on the first flight to wherever.

The film does not show us only the relationship between the two women, but also includes a strand about Matic (Jure Henigman, also from A Trip and one of the Berlinale’s Shooting Stars), Tina’s best friend who is also living through a personal hell, and a sequence with Tina’s family where we learn about her possible motives for a burning desire for freedom.

Dual was co-produced by Slovenia’s Perfo, Denmark’s Beofilm and Croatia’s Studio Dim. Cologne-based Media Luna handles the international rights.