Jure Šterk sailed the Atlantic Ocean on his own more than ten times during his lifetime, and in 1994, he became the first Slovenian to circumnavigate the world alone in a sailboat measuring only 6.5 metres. This year marks the thirteenth anniversary of Jure’s mysterious disappearance in the Indian Ocean during his attempt to sail around the world without stopping on land.
The film story is an intimate portrait of the family of Jure Šterk, the first Slovenian to circumnavigate the world alone, from the subjective perspective of his son. It is a humorous but relentless family drama with three protagonists – father, mother, and son – each of whom supports one corner of the house while the sailboat supports the fourth.
Starring Janez Škof (Jure), Silva Čušin (Vojka), Jernej Gašperin (Igor), the debutant actor Tito Novak (Igor as a child), and many others.
The story, which begins in the early 1970s and continues until 2008, represented a challenge for the production designer Marco Juratovec, costume designer Tina Bonča, and makeup designer Gabrijela Fleischman, who had to recreate several different periods in the family’s life. The spirit of the times was also captured by the director of photography Miloš Srdić. The shooting took place in Ljubljana, both in the Viba Film Studio and at actual locations, which also represented an attraction for the passers-by who could see the city as it had looked in another era. The team also visited Koper and Piran on the Slovenian coast and Pula in Croatia.
The shooting started last September, but as this is a demanding project that includes all seasons and involves a large crew, it took ten months to complete.
The film’s producer Petra Vidmar said the following about the challenges on the set:
“We were filming during the pandemic, which meant following the prescribed measures and taking care of constant testing. Only once did we have to stop shooting for ten days because a member of the creative team tested positive. When, apart from the constraints imposed by the pandemic, we also take into account the seasons necessary to tell the story unfolding over several decades and the busy schedule of our amazing crew and cast, I have to admit I am extremely grateful to everyone who understood the importance of this film and bore with us to the end.”
The film is co-produced by the Švenk production company (Ira Cecić and Nina Petrović) from Croatia and RTV Slovenija, as well as by other minor Slovenian co-producers. It has received the financial support of the Slovenian Film Centre and the Croatian Audiovisual Centre, while Viba Film Studio has provided technical support.
The footage shot during the last few days is now in the hands of Petar Marković, an experienced editor who has also worked on several of the director’s previous films (9:06 from 2009, Come Along from 2016). During the months of shooting, he has already been busy editing the film.
The work is expected to be completed by December 2022.
