17

A phenomenal, emotionally raw acting turn by newcomer Eva Kostic as a teenager on a school trip who is dealing with the aftermath of a sexual assault anchors 17, the devastating debut feature of Macedonian writer-director Kosara Mitic. The divisively brutal and harrowing drama, which tackles the heavy coming-of-age topics of teen pregnancy and gender-based violence in a society portrayed as only too keen to look the other way, has screened as part of the Narrative Feature Film competition at the Sarajevo Film Festival, after its world premiere in the Perspectives section at the Berlinale.

17 begins right at the moment an encounter between Sara (Kostic) and two classmates goes horribly wrong, and becomes nonconsensual — a traumatic experience that will change everything for her. Tight framing takes us right inside these aggressive, disturbing moments in a way that is harrowing and uncomfortably confronting. Mitic is resolved, throughout the film, to show events head-on rather than just inferring them, a valid choice that makes for a relentlessly unpleasant viewing experience which shakes audiences up, and makes it impossible for certain painful realities to be glossed over or ignored.

Fast-forward to the end of the school year, and the remainder of the film plays out over two days, as Sara joins a school trip bound by bus from Macedonia for Greece across the EU border, via an overnight stopoff in the city of Bitola. She is irritable and withdrawn, detached from the raucous interactions of her peers as she stares out the window ruminating, or sneaks off to calm her nerves by smoking a clandestine joint. Almost a third of the way in, a further revelation comes regarding the aftermath of the assault that is so troubling her, and which she has kept to herself.

Sara’s shame and isolation over her overwhelming predicament is a by-product, we come to understand, of a dog-eat-dog environment that is fuelled by stigmatising rumours and a rarely questioned reverence for machismo, rather than supportive community. The majority of the students have an aggressive and volatile disdain for rules and boundaries of all types. For their part, the conspicuously hands-off, lackadaisical teachers are fine for their charges to blow off a planned museum visit and, busy drinking and flirting among themselves, raise no eyebrows at teens ordering a taxi to hit up a nightclub in town.

There is a sustained nastiness to the antics of the teens who, high on hormones and petty rivalries, goad and mock each other, in situations that, mixed with alcohol and adrenaline, spill over into violence time and again. The Bitola hotel, packed-out with students, is shot by D.O.P. Naum Doksevski as a sprawling space of unseen corners, even as frequent close-ups feed a sense of airless claustrophobia, especially in combination with the many rowdy and hostile scenes on the bus. In a credibility-stretching moment that leans into overkill in its efforts to underscore teens unguided and out of control, even a hotel worker is punched.

There are numerous small moments, too, of connection that build amid the pain, especially between Sara and Lina (Martina Danilovska), who have to reluctantly share a hotel room, along with resident mean girl and self-appointed life of the party Nina (Eva Stojchevska), who has attracted the attention of Sara’s ex-boyfriend. Lina is just as potentially vulnerable as Sara had been in her desire to fit in and explore her burgeoning sexuality, leading to a particularly disturbing party scene and another crisis situation, which pushes the sense of prevailing apathy entrenched in the school to the limit.

The misanthropy and nihilism that imbue the film do leave room for hope, ultimately suggesting that solidarity with each other may be the salvation for these young women, and just might be enough for them to escape this climate of misogyny and everyday exploitation, to create a meaningful future governed by love.

Director: Kosara Mitic
Writers: Kosara Mitic, Ognjen Svilicic
Producers: Tomi Salkovski
Cast: Eva Kostic, Martina Danilovska, Dame Joveski, Eva Stojchevska, Petar Manic
Cinematographer: Naum Doksevski
Editor: Vladimir Pavlovski
Sound: Aljaz Lukan
Production companies: Black Cat Production (North Macedonia), Art & Popcorn (Serbia), December (Slovenia)
Sales: Totem Films
Venue: Sarajevo (Narrative Feature Film competition)
In Macedonian
105 minutes