The Spirits Diary

"Mario Haber (aka Eric Maria Strom) was an “alchemist of the modern age” – a professional sound recordist and a devoted maker of homemade rakija. His house in the center of Samobor became a sort of rakija temple, where he would often invite friends to taste rakija and liqueurs illegally produced in his own basement. For over a decade, he recorded vibrant conversations and ambient sounds in and around the house and the alcohol fermenters, right up until his death in the summer of 2014. The Spirits Diary is a visual reconstruction of Haber’s audio recordings – a film “watched through the ears.” Mario Haber aka Eric Maria Strom (1963–2014) was an underground artist from Samobor, a sound recordist, and a passionate rakija maker working from home. He collaborated as co-screenwriter and sound recordist on six films by Damir Čučić. He held several performances and exhibitions. He was the first producer of vibrators in the former Yugoslavia. He never paid taxes. He lived and died as a snob-artist and DJ."

• 11. ZagrebDox, 2015.• 62. beogradski festival dokumentarnog i kratkog filma, 2015. – najbolja montaža (Damir Čučić), najbolja fotografija (Boris Poljak), najbolja glazba (Goran Štrbac)• 24. dani hrvatskog filma, 2015. – nagrada za najbolju kameru (Boris Poljak) • 11. Kino Otok – Isola Cinema, 2015. – program Dobri susjedi• 62. pulski filmski festival, 2015. – Zlatna arena za oblikovanje zvuka (Martin Semenčić) • 26. međunarodni filmski festival FIDMarseille, 2015. – program Cadence • 14. DokuFest, Prizren, 2015. • 13. Liburnia Film Festival, 2015. – najbolji snimatelj (Boris Poljak), najbolji montažer zvuka (Martin Semenčić)• 20. međunarodni festival novog filma Split, 2015. – posebno priznanje• 36. međunarodni filmski festival "Braća Manaki", Bitol, Makedonija, 2015.• Panorama Europe 2016, Museum of Moving Image in Queens, New York, 2016.• Retrospektiva "Portreti: Polako nikuda Damira Čučića", kino Tuškanac, 2018.