British filmmakers Matthew Somerville and Dan Mccrum have embarked on an exciting, ambitious project exploring the river Sava, from Croatia to the countries of the Balkans once united in former Yugoslavia. The documentary travels on a 990km route along the river with Sava as the protagonist, voiced by famous Croatian actress Mira Furlan (The Abandoned, Lost, Babylon 5). With a pronounced poetic edge, the movie takes the viewer on a geopolitical journey along the longest river of former-Yugoslavia, a dividing line between empires and the final frontier of the European Union, exploring its environmental problems and the increasingly fractious relations between these once connected states.
The filmmakers are incredibly close to reaching their crowdsourcing goal - 97 percent there, in fact. They need to meet the $6,250 target in order to buy a boat to allow them to traverse the winding contours of the Sava and finish six years of production on the feature-length documentary.
'We live in a world that cultivates forces of hatred, fear and warmongering' said Mira Furlan, explaining her involvement in the film: 'In such a world, a project like Sava present a ray of hope. It reminds us of the force of nature that cannot be tamed by humans and their politics of violence. The river stays above all division and serves as a clear lesson, a lesson that we, humans, seem unable or unwilling to hear. As a citizen of the former Yugoslavia, a country destroyed by murderous politics, I see this project as part of a badly needed healing process for the region and beyond.'
Filmmaker Matt Somerville adds: 'Inherently I believe that nature is more important than nationhood and now more than ever we need to unite around the things that connect us. For me Sava is special because she connects and divides many of the nations of the former Yugoslavia and now forms part of the EU border, but she is also symbolic of rivers and nature worldwide, a reminder that we are all connected by water here on Earth. Recently most stories coming from these lands focus on conflict and suffering. While true, through AATS we want to share stories of co-operation between the communities living on Sava’s banks while reflecting on the changing social landscape of the region.'
The crew needs your help. There's just 24 hours left to go on this popular crowdfunding campaign which has already met 98 percent of its target. Get involved and make your contribution to this incredible project here.