My border, my forest

Director’s notes

“My border, my forest” tells the story of an elderly man who lives away from his native land and who is consumed by guilt. As he is inevitably approaching the last chapter of his life, he finally decides to untangle his life problems.
The border in this story is multifaceted and symbolic. It’s not just the physical border that separates Italy, particularly the Friuli region (where the main character has lived for the past 50 years), and Ex-Jugoslavia (the land of childhood and memories), but it is also the border between wisdom and old age, between sadness and happiness.
As the story develops, our character finds the courage to cross these borders and the audience becomes part of this transformation process. We are able to sense his inner agony and his emotional state through his eyes and his moves, through the minimalism of the Torviscosa rationalist architecture, through the fog of Istrian landscapes, through the abandoned state border and through other symbolic plots included in the story.
Most people have unfulfilled dreams, or even remorses. Many people are overwhelmed by a sense of duty and guilt. Many people are overwhelmed by a sense of duty and guilt. Many of these people sometimes, don’t even believe in second chances, or in the possibility to come to terms with the past and to continue living peacefully their present life. Others carry on living a life made of memories and past troubles, and are unable to find the positives in difficult situations, or to find solutions to problems and to look to the future with a positive attitude. ‘My border, my forest’ is a film that gives hope: Ivan comes to terms with his past to find happiness again, just like when he was a child.