Maja Benc
"Her Eye Gazes Deep and Wide"
Maja completed her directing studies in Belgrade and her master's in editing at FAMU. Thanks to these two significant film schools, her work combines the cultures of two cities—Belgrade and Prague. In her work, she boldly merges traditional and modern film editing techniques to create a professional expression.
Through editing, she highlights the details, fragility, and depth of film protagonists. She skilfully and swiftly assembles stories as if they were music boxes, which, once opened, take your breath away and draw you into the narrative.
"The Eye that Sees Wide" represents her ability to collaborate with professional partners and clients, helping them visualize and execute their projects. Her great advantage lies in her comprehensive understanding of both crafts (not just editing, but also film directing), so her clients get immediately familiar with the possibilities of the final product.
Maja loves to experiment in her work and often sees and depicts the world "as if looking into a mirror," revealing the truth from different angles: the shadowed, hidden truth and the reflection you might see for the first time.
Reflections, human relationships, cracks in the mirror, traces we leave as we journey through this world are just some of the themes that have appeared in her colourful world. This is her, this is Maja.
Filmography
Boiling
2023 / 26 min
director: Luka Djikanovic
DOP: Tomas Lipsky
editor: Maja Benc
Growing social aggression affects the life of a young couple already plagued by their internal problems.
Ice Break
2023 / 20 min
director: Elvira Dulskaia
DOP: Zdena Sykorova
editor: Maja Benc, Elvira Dulskaia
Sixteen-year-old Alex is the only girl on the boys' hockey team coached by her father Michal. She's a tough hockey player, who doesn't pay much attention to the feminine world. However, things start to change when Alex falls in love with one of her teammates and longs for the people around her to see her more as a girl.
Progress
2021 / 19 min
director: Lun Sevnik
DOP: Krystof Melka
editor: Maja Benc
Sixteen-year-old Anna takes care of an older, physically disabled Michael during her school internship, where he verbally abuses her. When her work is interrupted by a visit from a friend, she doesn't realize that the afternoon will stretch into the night, during which, pushed to the corner, it is she who begins to inflict harm.
Playing
2019 / 22 min
director: Lun Sevnik
DOP: Krystof Melka
editor: Maja Benc
Boris and Hugo, sixteen-year-old friends, are at Hugo's house. They have bought a gun. In an online livestream, they announce that they will commit suicide within the next hour. Boris commences the game and is convinced of his decision, while Hugo still has doubts. Sadism, homoeroticism, and destructive tendencies take on a different dimension in the final moments of their lives.
White as Sheets
2017 / 13 min
director: Maja Benc
DOP: Jakub Kren
editor: Maja Benc
On her wedding day, Jana reminisces about her former great love, from whom she expected much more. The wedding takes place at the same hotel where she used to meet her ex. We follow the story from the past, which is acoustically linked to the present, where the wedding is taking place. The hotel, the corridors, and her direct looks into the camera represent what she could have been or wanted but ultimately didn’t happen.. Following these memories, she leaves to marry another man...
Voyage
2017 / 6 min
director: Lun Sevnik
DOP: Krystof Melka
editor: Maja Benc
The delivery van driver transports a group of refugees across the border. Complications arise when the driver discovers one of the refugees dead, which later proves to be a mistake.
