ROLANDA REBREK SAMPLE OF WORK (SCREENWRITER) TITLE:»ECHOES«GENRE: Mystery drama LOGLINE: Loosely based on the motifs of the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice, Echoes follows a stranger in a foreign city whose search for his mysteriously disappeared girlfriend takes him on a strange journey through his inner self, trying to reclaim the happiness long lost after the death of his parents. INTRODUCTION TO THE MAIN CHARACTERS: Tibor is a Slovenian musician in his thirties who came to Berlin and fell in love with Marion, a young German student of physics. After Marion s sudden disappearance, Tibor s obsessive search leads him towards the source of his unhappiness which started long ago with the death of his parents. Meanwhile, Marion stays an enigma, a projection of Tibor s deepest desire for the perfect and absolute love he had lost. Petra is Tibor s Slovenian girlfriend he left without even saying goodbye - the older version of Marion with whom he could not find happiness. SYNOPSIS: Tibor, a man from Slovenia, calls the police in Berlin to a desolate site where his German girlfriend Marion suddenly disappeared. He is shaken by the event which echoes another tragedy in his life: when he was 12, he lost his parents. That is the deep bond he shares with Marion who also recently lost hers. The police find nothing, so Tibor searches for answers. Marion s physics professor tells him that nothing disappears, it only changes form. Tibor waits for her, but is haunted by the memory of the loss of his parents. He visits Marion's grandparents and they let him stay in her room. One day, the grandparents are gone, and Tibor s dead parents appear. His mother plays»orpheus«on the piano to him, and Tibor knows what he must do. He returns to the desolate site and finds an underground tunnel. He follows it and finds himself in Slovenia with his first former girlfriend whom he left without a word. After she finally forgives him, Tibor returns to Berlin.
He waits for Marion where they first met, and she finally comes. They spend happy days together, until one day Marion wants to go to the place where she disappeared. But there, as they leave, Tibor realizes he is walking alone: Marion is gone. CONTEXT OF THE SCRIPT EXCERPT WITHIN THE STORY: This is the moment where the main character Tibor and his Slovenian girlfriend Petra get closure of their failed relationship, and Petra finally releases Tibor from her grip. Tibor is now free to return to Berlin and start again with Marion. The scenes are played out in Tibor s mind. INT. KITCHEN ('S APARTMENT, LJUBLJANA) - DAY (LATER) The rain is not slowing down. Petra looks upset, sitting at the table. She is eating hastily the casserole from the plastic container that her parents brought. She never once looks at Tibor, standing next to the table, she only stares at her food. Tibor does not take his eyes off her. The silence is tense. Petra, please... No. Sit down and eat. Tibor hesitates, then he sits down. But he does not touch the food. He looks at her. She is ignoring him, eating quickly. Then she stops and looks at him. Tibor looks away. We don't have to have children, you know. Petra puts down her fork, gets up and goes to the hallway.
INT. HALLWAY ('S APARTMENT, LJUBLJANA) - DAY (MOMENTS LATER) Petra is putting on her shoes. Where are you going? Petra goes out and closes the door behind her. We hear her locking him in. Tibor remains standing in the hallway, looking at the door. INT. KITCHEN ('S APARTMENT, LJUBLJANA) - DAY (MOMENTS LATER) Tibor comes to the window and looks down to the street. Petra is seen quickly walking away in the rain. EXT. STREET (BERLIN) - EVENING We are looking at the street in Berlin, same as always. It is raining here as well and the street is empty. It is getting dark. INT. BEDROOM ('S APARTMENT, LJUBLJANA) - NIGHT Tibor is standing by the bedroom window, looking out. Petra is heard coming back home. As she turns on the light in the hallway, it lights up the bedroom and Tibor. He does not react. She comes and joins him by the window. She is completely soaked and looks deeply sad. She looks at him. He seems far away in his thoughts. Suddenly the electricity goes out. It is dark and quiet now as there is no buzzing from the appliances in the apartment. The whole neighborhood is in darkness and the sound of rain is all that remains. Petra takes Tibor's hand and leans her head on his shoulder. Tibor embraces her with his arm. They stand like this, watching the rain. The rain stops for the very first time since Tibor found himself in Ljubljana. Complete silence.
(quietly, with sadness) Why were you with me? Tibor does not reply. Why are you here? Tibor looks at her. I'm not. A long pause. Where are you? I'm waiting for you. You left me here. Tibor gently strokes her hair. (sincerely) I'm sorry. Petra is looking at him and her eyes fill with tears. She bows her head. Suddenly the electricity comes back on. The light turns on and the hi-fi returns with loud sounds to its stand-by mode. It seems as if everything around them came back to life. Petra lets go of him. INT. BEDROOM ('S APARTMENT, LJUBLJANA) - MORNING Tibor wakes up alone in bed, as he did the previous morning. He sits up and looks towards the door. The door is open. INT. STAIRWAY ('S BUILDING, LJUBLJANA) - MORNING (LATER)
Tibor is quickly going down the stairs, from floor to floor, until he finally reaches the ground floor and exits the building. EXT. TRAIN/RAILWAY TRACKS - MORNING (LATER) The view from the last carriage back at Ljubljana and the tracks, left behind by the speeding train. INT. TRAIN - DAY The empty hallway inside the carriage. The door of one of the compartments is opening and closing, slamming with the movements of the train. There is no one anywhere. A compartment, seen through the glass door. Tibor is sitting by the window. The seats around him are empty and the countryside, seen through the window, is blurred by the speed of the train.