Maja and Mladen are suffering from different mental disorders. They do not consider themselves mentally ill but mentally diverse. Unlike other patients mainly following strict medical advice and taking numerous pills, Maja and Mladen decided to try to cure themselves differently. They decided to fight, not only obvious discrimination to the mentally diverse, but also to speak out about their accumulated emotional problems–directly to the camera. Swallowing 15 pills a day, prescribed by their GPs, is the only medical treatment they receive. It is hard to expect they will get any better. So, they openly speak to the camera-lens, share their deepest emotions and fears and unfold shocking facts about medical care in Croatia, along with facing the cause of their diversity in public. All in all, Maja and Mladen just want to feel like normal, accepted and fulfilled human beings. Maja wants to become Mike–a strong and uncompromised man in Speedo swimming pants and Mladen wants to finally find a girlfriend for the first time in his life and enjoy it liberated from the influence of his priest and conservative family. Days of Madness is a combination of observational documentary and participatory video that will grasp into the depth of what is quintessential–the feeling of being secure.
Producer: |
Oliver Sertić |
Director: |
Damian Nenadić |
Script: |
Damian Nenadić |
Camera: |
Maja Šćukanec, Mladen Bađun, Damian Nenadić, Srđan Kovačević
|
Editing: |
Sandra Bastašić
|
Directors of photography: |
Maja Šćukanec, Mladen Bađun, Damian Nenadić, Srđan Kovačević |
Others: |
Co-producer: Petra Seliškar
Executive producers: Tibor Keser, Brand Ferro
Sound design: Martin Semenčić
Mix: Julij Zornik, Ivan Zelić
Music: Filip Sertić
Color correction: Jure Teržan, Martina Lajtner
Production: Restart, Hrvaška v ko-produkciji s Petra Pan Film, Slovenija
Support: Hrvaški avdiovizualni center, Slovenski filmski center, MEDIA – razvoj, Mesto Zagreb
Project development: EURODOC, Ex-Oriente Film, East Doc Platform, Dragon Forum
Distribution in Slovenia: Nika Gričar |
Damian Nenadić was born in 1979 in Zagreb, where he graduated in film and television photography at the Academy of Dramatic Art and Biology at the Faculty of Arts. He then worked for many years as a veterinary trainer with monkeys and sea lions in a zoo and in animal rescue and protection projects in Portugal, Spain, France and Croatia. His photographs, exhibited at numerous exhibitions, particularly emphasize the relationship between man and nature. He currently works as a freelance photographer, director of photography and music video director. Before Crazy Days (2018), he shot the short documentary Umetnik na dopusu (2015), co-directed with Sandra Bastašić.