Part of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association’s mission is to foster greater understanding through world cinema. This year 72 Foreign Language films were submitted for Golden Globes consideration. Here is an overview of one of them.

This is the story of daughters and their fathers. Actually, the film is a triptych. It consists of three stories about three daughters and their three fathers. All three daughters battle for acceptance not only by their fathers but also by the society they live in in general.

Ives (Lana Baric), a soap opera director, faces a problem far from soap opera canon – she loses her relationship with her father who suffers from progressing Alzheimer’s disease. The unbearable situation makes her gradually lose the ground beneath her feet. Natasha (Natasa Dorcic), who is a successful producer, is pregnant. When things go awfully wrong for her, she decides to confront her long estranged father and make him accept new reality. Dora (Helena Beljan) is a neglected girl, who dreams about becoming a soccer manager. Unexpectedly, her father, who has a criminal background, storms into her life and, to both their surprise, they start to build a very close relationship.

The daughters in these stories are all quite strong personalities albeit with many flaws and fears. But all of them are able to deal with their own limitations daringly and with some human dignity. They never surrender. The female director of the picture Ivona Juka was the author of the award- winning short films Garbage and Editing. The European Film Academy (EFA) selected her as one of five European film students to make short films for an award ceremony in Berlin. She also was invited by EFA to participate in the conference “Cinema of Tomorrow” in Warsaw (Poland) as one of the most promising young European directors. You Carry Me is Ivona’s debut in feature film.

Ivona Juka says about her intentions and reasons for making this film: “I wanted to make a movie to show how important it is to be aware of our present lives, because the present is what is most important. There are only two days one can do nothing about. One is called Yesterday and the other Tomorrow. Today is the right day to love and believe”.

Serge Rakhlin