MONO is a story about a lonely teenager who’s trying to make sense of the world around him. Since he isn’t the most popular guy, his frenemies arrange a date with Mary, the least popular girl in the school. He has no choice but to change his worldview if he wants to remain sane.

2020, 12:40 min, digital H264, colour

Full cast and credits

Neven Jadović…Jakov Škomrlj
Neven’s mother…Ana Šurija Fundak

Directed by ErikKyleLončar
Screenplay by Ana Šurija Fundak, ErikKyleLončaR
Director of Photography ErikKyleLončaR
Edited by Ana Šurija Fundak, ErikKyleLončaR
Produced by theFILMitself
Sound design Ana Šurija Fundak, ErikKyleLončaR
Score by Dario Vištica

Director’s statement

The idea behind the short film MONO was to use romantic-comedy cliches and turn them upside down by not showing them, but letting them play out as reflections from just one teenager’s perspective. ‘Mono’ is a metaphor for being alone, being disconnected and having just a single stubborn point of view. The camera never leaves the apartment, because being inside the apartment is like being inside the main character’s mind. Since the audience never gets to see other characters besides the main protagonist, it became an experiment on how to mirror his ‘loneliness’ throughout other elements of the film. He is a ‘Mono’, not a ‘Duo’, he listens to mono-records and he delivers an insightful narration, a monologue, about his thoughts and emotions. About 80% of the film is displayed in cold/bluish colours, which reflects the distanced existence of the main protagonist. He needs to appreciate himself in order to understand the world. The main character’s change is initiated when he realized that the one girl he fell for has no feelings towards him and that he needs to move on. When audiences watch this short film, I hope that they will recognize a part of themselves in the main protagonist (similar thoughts they might have experienced during their teenage life) and I hope they would be able to pinpoint certain romantic-comedy cliches and recognize the different approach to them.