Maroš Milčík is a young self-taught filmmaker from Slovakia who shoots quality advertisements for top regional brands and agencies. Nevertheless, his short film Sonja is a proof of his capability to also show passion in a non-commercial film area. Sonja is a portrait of a sightless artist Sona Zeliskova, who despite her health obstacles managed to find happiness on her life journey again.
What is happiness? For me it is not a matter of destiny but a matter of my decision.
The poetic portrait culminates throughout the whole video thank to the atmospheric setting and very significant melancholic music tones which like a storm let emotions run away with the viewer and afterwards result into a meditative calmness. It is parallel to Sonja’s path to inner peace.
The film experiments with audio-visual elements and through a merge of narrative documentary and poetic approach depicts Sonja’s story. It makes her real.
Camera shots leave space for us to absorb the story and create a bond of compassion, as they last longer. Concurrently, we are given time to adapt and identify with the protagonist. Sharp and dramatic cut-ins keep the film gripping and us longing for catharsis.
Camera details make our bond with Sonja more intimate and so take us to experience the biggest breakthrough of her life – transition from light into darkness (and back). Colors are symbols that change from nature’s color palette to a monochronic mixture of white and grey that lets us see what she does. Yet we are not blind. We see more than just the dark.
Sonja’s life is connected with number 13. As a 13-year-old she got diagnosed with diabetes. After another 13 years passed she gave birth to her son but at the same time, something unexpected happened.
It was the most beautiful moment of my life. But at the very same time, I was caught by surprise. My life has fallen into the dark. I lost my sight.
It took her a long time to reconcile with herself. However, she realized that the only thing she had to do was to create a new world. Because people did not need her eyes, they needed her.
Touch is an important sense for her now. Once she found herself holding clay she hasn’t given it out of her hands ever since. Loss of sight isn’t an obstacle to art anymore. In fact, it never was. After 13 years she’s found a new meaning on her journey – ceramics. And as she says, there isn’t anything more beautiful she would imagine doing than making ceramics. Clay became her new sight. A linking element between light and the dark.
I feel like I am able to see again. There is a great difference between blind and sightless. While sightless is the person with sick eyes. Many times we see much more than other.
SONJA
Follow Maroš Milčík on his Vimeo channel | Instagram | Facebook | website.
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