The Body

The Body is a poetic story about one woman’s struggle to overcome an incredibly rare autoimmune disease; a glimpse into her life as she lives with a DNA chain full of mistakes almost impossible to fix. This is a film about my friend Urška shot over a period of 15 years. Based on one particular journey that Urška made from Slovenia to Macedonia to visited her friends in the summer of 2004. After this trip Urška’s immune system collapsed for the first time. Eleven years later she travels to the same location to face the place where the story of her on-going illness began. The incredible nature resort of Prespa lake on the border to Albania and Greece is still untouched while Urška’s body has changed completely. When Urška faces the lake her life unfolds backwards over 38 years of her life. In archive footage from 95’ she is rebellious teenage punk from ex-Yugoslavia. From beautiful alternative model that could have had anything she wanted to a pianist, a single mother. In June 2004 Urška and her daughter visited Macedonia. Here she met Mitko, a local hypnotist. The next thing we know she returns to Slovenia and was in coma. She was sick person for a long time; she cut all contact with everyone. Her previous life had all been forgotten. Eventually she regained her strength and managed to raise a family, get married. She gave birth to her second child and had another stroke. Again her memory had been wiped clear and she was introduced to herself and her family for second time. It is only now that she is able to tell her story. Reading her diaries we understand what she went through: retirement at the age of 32 and playing piano better than ever. Urška learned how to change everything about her. She accepted that her body is no longer that of a beautiful woman. All what is left of old punk is her incredible sense of humour. This film makes you think about what is happening within our-own bodies. While we are in perfect control of our mind, our body can take a U-turn.