KEK, 2021, 330 pages
excerpt in English
Film Rights sold: BETA FILM
TV rights sold: ARTE Television network
A newlywed couple turned their honeymoon into a journey around the world, an odyssey which explores the idea of love in different cultures, through the lens of various customs and beliefs. Journey in a search of the fundamental question of human existence: what is love?
From the hypermodern metropolises like Tokyo and New York to closed communities of Saudi Arabia and Iran and all the way to Amazon rainforest and remote Pacific islands in hunter-gatherer communities, a variety of people in different cultures talks directly, openly and sincerely about love providing us a powerful account on this eternal topic. A curious book this is, both universal and personal. The impressive and meticulous research intertwines with romance, introduced by the story of the marriage proposal at the merciless shore of Antarctica. More precisely, the author and his partner Anđela talk with 120 couples (some of which are odd numbers, including more than two people) on all continents, in 30 countries and 30 languages. They have undertaken an extraordinary venture, extending their honeymoon to a whole year, a year that rewarded them with different form of pleasure, a pleasure of learning, traveling, and questioning personal and civilizational biases and prejudices. To interpret and contextualize their data and observations, this couple reached out to the most distinguished scientists, anthropologists, neurologists, philosophers and linguists, and conducted interviews with them as well, which is then incorporated harmoniously into this magnificent symphony.
”The fact persists that in the early 21st century we still don’t know what love exactly is, just as we don’t know whether it is a phenomenon innate to us all or learned through upbringing and, as such, different from culture to culture.”
Davor Rostuhar
