Drinking Slivovitz with YOUGOFIRST

Since the Yougofirst guys are about to release their new full movie HETEROTOPIA, we thought we'd have a drink with Matic Zavodnik and Vid Baric, two of the creative master minds behind the project. The Yougofirst crew extended the sphere of Euroboarding to the East which is why we already awarded them with the "Method Schengen Award" last year. Yet they keep steady rollin' and pop up all over the continent when you'd least expect them [instert unfunny East-West immigration joke right here].

If you have not seen the teaser for Heterotopia yet (and if you have), check it out right here:


Your new movie is called Heterotopia. What or where is Heterotopia?
Vid: Heterotopia is a concept elaborated by a super interesting allround french thinker Michel Foucault. It’s basically an idea of these “different spaces” that are present in life and that function in non-hegemonic conditions. Its’s pretty much abstract thing and it can be applied to loads of examples. I think that at one point it perfectly meets snowboarding and all those “accidental playgrounds” out there you can shred.

So.. is Heterotopia a place where Blunts & Ice cream grow on trees?
Vid: I think that’s close to what heterotopias really are all about. Add flying drones everywhere delivering free candies for everyone and you’re totally there.

How can we get there?
Vid: Fastest way is to sit on rollercoaster of emotions and enjoy the ride.

Contender for "most attractive snowboarding crew 2014"

 Tell us a funny joke from the former Yougo countries.
Vid: We’re living here in kind of a joke, everyone should just come and see whatsup. Mediterranean style.

 Apropos joke: How many Yougos does it take to make a snowboard movie?
Vid: There were 8 people really involved in making this project happen+ all other friends that we met on the way during our winter adventures.

 Do you feel like Yougos, Slovenians, Europeans or like citizens of Atlantis?
MATIC: I don’t feel anything really.
Mommy, when will we arrive?

Who's the bad boy in your crew and why? We bet it's Marincic!
MATIC: Yeah it’s Marinčič. He has always been into guns, explosions and stuff, he’s favorite movies are the ones with the most people killed and most recent news is that he’s joining the army so yeah. He’s the bad boy.

What is the snowboard scene in Slovenia in particular and the Ex-Yugo countries like right now?
Vid: Slovenia is pretty rad I would say, there are good places to shred and lots of people are hyped to ride. You can always go to some resort, meet with friends and have a good day riding. Croatia is a different story, although we do have two solid resorts we don’t have any parks and never did so it’s basically dead. Other ex-Yugo countries such as Serbia, Macedonia or Bosnia and Herzegovina have pretty good background for snowboarding with lots of mountains and snow but things still seem to be a bit undeveloped when it gets to the snowboarding.

Your next FB profile pic

How was winter in Slovenia this year? We saw you guys have been on the road quite a bit.
MATIC: It wasn’t the best one. First decent snowfall came really late so the parks opened in the end of January or beginning of February I think. There was maybe a week or two when you could ride some street in Slovenia but we didn’t really take advantage of this either. I think we filmed four days in Slovenia, not more. We had fixed dates in advance when we all had time so at that point we just checked where there is snow nearby and went on a road, not knowing what to expect really. It worked out just fine.

 Outdoor bakery

We really dig the artsy approach you chose for the teaser! Who did the graphics?
MATIC: Thank you, it’s a pleasure to hear that. The illustrations are work from Rina Barbarić, a good friend of ours coming from Rijeka, Croatia, currently based in Ljubljana, Slovenia where she studies. You will see more of her illustrations in our full film, as well as printed on our custom Ziggi rolling papers and on our very limited sweaters coming out soon.

 Would you like to blur the lines between snowboard filming and art? Are there any lines?
MATIC: Film is a type of visual art as well as are illustrations so I wouldn’t say there are any lines really. I think every single shot you take has kind of a vibe of it’s own. It may be the location where it was shot, the weather conditions, the colors or whatever. With putting those shots together in the right order, combining them with a specific music and adding illustrations, we are trying to make those vibes more intense and create a certain atmosphere. All in all, we’re just trying to make a video that’s enjoyable to watch.  
 

 Thanks guys. Stay tuned for the release of Heterotopia here on methodmag.com!