Cinderella-like Tale ‘Rift in the Ice’ Looks at How Ice-skaters Are ‘Sexualized and Objectified’

In her sophomore feature, contemporary fairytale Rift in the Ice, Serbian director Maja Milo revisits the underbelly of Serbian society and explores womens integrity and sexuality in the harsh reality of contemporary Serbia. The film is a co-production between Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia, Italy, Netherlands and Montenegro, and features in the works-in-progress section of Cinelink, the Sarajevo Film Festivals industry program. It is hoping to woo partners and funds for completion.

Milo explains that Rift in the Ice is a Cinderella story set in Serbia in the period following the Balkans War, and posits the idea that when a young woman embraces her sexuality she becomes a kind of princess. It is also a heros journey going from the lowest ranks of society to the highest.

The ice in the title refers to the background of the protagonist, an ice skater. I wanted her to be in sports because the treatment of the body in sports is very specific. Its about control, about the muscles. I chose ice-skating because there is a predominant vision that its very gracious, very feminine and imposes a princess-like model on the ice-skater. I wanted to see girls with that kind of treatment of their body put in different situations where she is sexualized and objectified, Milo tells Variety.

Rift in the Ice has been in development for a decade, due to a prolonged research period, a complicated funding process, COVID, and Milo becoming a mother. The film is almost completed and Milo is close to the final cut. The director and her producer, Jelena Mitrovi, from prominent Serbian production outlet Ba elik, are looking for funds to complete the visual effects of the film. We have face swapping for the main actress because she is not a professional ice-skater, so we needed a double. We also have the beautiful dreams that Maja wrote, Mitrovi says.

Rift in the Ice Courtesy of Bas Celik The producers are Mitrovi and Srdan Golubovi for Ba elik (Serbia), Joko Rutar for SPOK Films (Slovenia), Danijel Hoevar for Vertigo (Slovenia), Boris T. Mati and Lana Mati for Propeler Film (Croatia), Ines Vasiljevi for Nightswim (Italy), Denis Vaslin for Volya Films (Netherlands) and Ivan Bakra for Quadrifolium Films (Montenegro) with funds from Film Center Serbia, CE Media, Slovenian Film Center, Viba Film, Croatian Audiovisual Centre, Italian Minstry for Culture (Mibact), Netherlands Film Fund, Montenegro Film Center and Eurimages.