Sram (English: Shame) is a Croatianteen dramatelevision series, a remake of the Norwegian series Skam. It premiered on 27 October 2024[a] on HRT 1 and HRTi in Croatia. The series is also released globally through YouTube, where it is available with English subtitles.
Following the lives of a group of highschoolers, Sram explores everyday issues of teenage life, such as their friendships, romantic relationships and mental health. The series takes place in Zagreb, with the main characters attending Prirodoslovna škola Vladimira Preloga ("Vladimir Prelog Science School").
The first season centers on 16-year-old Eva, her boyfriend Jakov, and their friends. Eva is a new student at the school, and she recently broke off her friendship with Sara, whom she confronts at a party in the first episode. After Jakov tells her to find some new friends of her own, Eva befriends Nora, Tina, Nika, and Vanessa, with whom she forms the "mrcine" squad. In order to improve their reputation, the girls attempt to get close to the most popular boys in school, while navigating their own love and friendship issues.
Lucija Stanković as Eva Šilović (born 1 June 2008), the central character in the first season. She is dating Jakov, and she used to be friends with Sara. In the first episode, Eva meets Nora, Tina, Nikola and Nika at the party. Jakov advises her to find new friends, so she throws a party and invites Nora, Tina, and Nika, as well as Vanessa.
Main cast
Jagor Katičić as Jakov (born 18 March 2007), Eva's boyfriend. He is best friends with Lovro and is seen spending most of time with him, which bothers Eva. Jakov advises her to find friends of her own. Jakov causes a quarrel between himself and Eva after Eva begins suspecting he is seeing Sara again.
Borna Šimunek as Lovro (born 8 March 2007), Jakov's best friend and Eva's friend. He is a skateboarder and is always seen hanging out with Jakov.
Gita Haydar as Nora Klarić Selem (born 26 March 2008), a girl Eva met at the party in the first episode. She supports Eva in her conflict with Sara and later sits with Eva in their German class. Nora is also a new student at the school; she used to live in Vienna, Austria.
Laura Barbić as Tina (born 8 May 2008), another girl Eva met at a party. She studies cosmetology and is best friends with Nika. She wants to improve her reputation and comes up with the plan to get close to Nikola and Roko, the most popular boys at school. She ends up having sex with Roko, but he ignores her afterwards.
Severina Lajtman as Vanessa (born 7 February 2008), a Romani girl.[2] She is introduced in the third episode; she studies cosmetology and attends the same class as Tina. She is open about her ethnicity and notices that Tina does not want to be associated with her because of it, given that the two reside in the same neighborhood. Vanessa in an aspiring makeup artist and has her own Instagram business account dedicated to makeup; she gives Eva, Nora, Tina and Nika a makeover at the party at Eva's house.
Stela Korman as Nika (born 21 August 2008), Tina's friend. In the first episode, she meets Eva at a party. She is best friends with Tina and she expresses interest in Lovro, whom she finds handsome.
Roan Vižintin as Nikola (born 15 November 2006), a boy Eva confused with Nika at the party in the first episode. He seems to be romantically interested in Eva, although he dates Ines. When Eva begins to feel like her and Jakov aren't in a relationship anymore, she kisses Nikola at a party.
Tin Lekić as Roko Marić (born 21 July 2006), described as the most popular boy in school; he is Nikola's best friend. Nikola attempted to flirt with Eva. Once he has sex with Tina, he begins to ignore her.
Recurring cast
Karla Šunjić as Sara Noršić (born 7 July 2007), Eva's former friend at the beginning of the first season. Sara gets in the way of Eva and Jakov's relationship as she convinces Eva that she has been spending time with him.
Mirej Đurović as Ines (born 7 January 2007), a third grade student and Nikola's girlfriend. She comforts Eva at a party not knowing that she kissed Nikola.
Left: The exterior of Prirodoslovna škola Vladimira Preloga, the high school the characters attend; right: the Meštrović Pavilion, located at the Square of the Victims of Fascism and popularly referred to as the Mosque, a prominent hang out spot for the characters in the series. Various scenes were shot on both of these locations.
The making of the series was first confirmed on 9 April 2024 in an article by Variety.[3]Sram is produced by CGM Films, which obtained the license rights for Skam in early 2022.[4] The company had previously produced The Outsiders, a Croatian-English teen drama that was released on YouTube in 2022 and received Večernjak's Rose Award for best digital content.[5][6]
The series is directed by Jelena Gavrilović and written by Hana Jušić and Nikica Zdunić.[3][7] The producers of the show are Bruno Mustić and Ivan Lovreček.[3] According to Lovreček, Sram was created so that "Croatian teenagers finally get a show of their own," criticizing the lack of local television content aimed at younger audiences.[8] Interviews with young people and expert research on their habits and mental health were conducted prior to writing the script for the series.[9] Moreover, the producers of the original series overlooked the production of Sram; a "Skam Academy" workshop was held in Zagreb for the producers to get introduced to all of the key elements for successfully adapting the Norwegian format.[6] The Croatian production team was also helped by the producers of the French and Italian adaptations.[6]
A casting call for actors aged 15 to 19 was posted by CGM Films via their social media profiles on 26 March 2024.[10] Over 600 people participated in the casting process, and the selected actors attended workshops with the show's director Jelena Gavrilović.[11] According to Mustić, the production also looked for potential actors directly, by visiting places young people hang out at, as well as by contacting local dance and sports clubs in order to seek out talent.[6] "Chemistry casting" was also conducted in order to ensure that characters function well together on-screen.[6] The Variety article from 9 April also confirmed the series will feature a character from the Roma community.[3] In September 2024, the Croatian newspaper portal La Voce del Popolo revealed that the character was created specifically to dispel stereotypes about Romani people; it was also revealed the character's name is Vanessa.[2] The cast was also joined by Gita Haydar, the granddaughter of Izet Hajdarhodžić.[12]
In April 2024, it was announced that the filming of the series would take place in the Croatian capital of Zagreb.[13] On 23 September 2024, HRT announced that the filming of the first season had been finished.[9] Croatian web portal Dnevno reports that the total expenses for the production of the first season, which consists of ten episodes, amounted to 915,793.25€.[14]
Broadcast and release
Each main character from the series has official Instagram and TikTok accounts. The teaser trailer for the series was released on 15 October 2024.[15] On 7 October, Jutarnji list confirmed that each episode of the first season consists of at least five clips, i.e. sequences.[16] The clips are released throughout the week in real time on the official YouTube and Instagram accounts, as well as on the website sram.hr.[11] The first clip was released on 22 October at 13:43.[16]
The full episodes, which consist of previously released clips, are broadcast on HRT 1 every Sunday at 21:10, starting from 27 October.[15] Shortly after their television broadcast, the full episodes are released globally through the official YouTube channel of the series. Due to the 2024 Croatian presidential election taking place on Sunday, 29 December, the broadcast of the final episode of the first season is scheduled for a day earlier, on Saturday, 28 December at 22:00.[17]
Episodes
No.
Title
Duration
Original air date
1
"Izgledaš kao drolja" "You Look Like a Slut"
22 min
27 October 2024 (2024-10-27)
After her boyfriend Jakov and her friend Lovro declined to attend a party, Eva decides to go alone. At the party, she confronts her former friend Sara, who acts rudely towards her. After failed attempt to reconcile her friendship with Sara, Eva is approached by Nora. In the bathroom, Eva meets Nika and her friend Tina, who is in trouble because she needs to find a way to get home.
2
"Vikendica" "Cottage"
21 min
3 November 2024 (2024-11-03)
Eva and Jakov spend the weekend at a vacation house, but Eva is unhappy that Jakov invited Lovro to join them.
3
"Trebaš naći ekipu" "You Need to Find a Squad"
20 min
10 November 2024 (2024-11-10)
Jakov tells Eva that she needs to meet new friends, so she messages Nora and later sits with her in their German class at school. She later re-encounters Tina and Nika as well and is introduced to Vanessa during lunch break. Eva invites all of the girls to a party at her house.
4
"Ostavi dečka" "Leave Your Boyfriend"
20 min
17 November 2024 (2024-11-17)
The girls go to Nikola's birthday party in order to attempt to get close to the popular boys at the school. Vanessa tells Eva to break up with Jakov and hook up with Nikola, given that Nikola seem to be interested in her.
5
"Što te pali?" "What Turns You On?"
22 min
24 November 2024 (2024-11-24)
The girls visit a gynecologist to get information on safe sex because Tina wants to have sex with Roko. Eva arranges a dinner to introduce Jakov to her mom, but he does not show up. When she calls him, she hears Sara's voice in the background.
6
"Znaš kad ti dečko laže" "You Know When Your Boyfriend's Lying to You"
20 min
1 December 2024 (2024-12-01)
Eva is suspecting that Jakov is seeing Sara again, which he denies. Eva and Jakov have a fight, whereas Tina is disappointed that Roko does not notice her after they had sex. She wants to win his attention back by sending him nude pictures, which is disapproved by the rest of the girls. Later at a party, Sara tells Eva that she met Jakov. Disappointed by her discovery, Eva wants to leave the party, but Nikola tries to make her feel better, and the two end up kissing. After the kiss, Eva finds out that Nikola is in a relationship with Ines.
7
"Otkud tebi da ja tebe volim?" "Where Did You Get the Idea That I Love You?"
20 min
8 December 2024 (2024-12-08)
Eva and Jakov reconcile. In the school, Tina confronts Roko about him ignoring her, and Nora stands in Tina's defense. Ines finds out about Eva and Nikola kissing, and initiates a catfight between her and Eva's respective friend groups in the school yard.
8
"Cijela škola te mrzi" "The Entire School Hates You"
TBA
15 December 2024 (2024-12-15)
Jakov breaks up with Eva, and she unsuccessfully keeps trying to reconcile with him. Eva is bullied and slut-shamed by other students, which leads to her quarrels with her mom and Tina. She, however, reconciles with Sara. Meanwhile, Roko keeps hitting on Nora, who is uninterested.
9
"Zašto si mi uništio vezu?" "Why Did You Ruin My Relationship?"
TBA
22 December 2024 (2024-12-22)
10
TBA
TBA
28 December 2024 (2024-12-28)
Reception
Critical response
Following the show's premiere episode, film critic Igor Tomljanović, writing for Index.hr, praised Lucija Stanković's performance as Eva, and noted that the narrative structure employed in Sram is an innovation in Croatian filmmaking.[18] Tomljanović praised the work of the show's director Gavrilović, as well as the writers Jušić and Zdunić for securing "authenticity and spontaneity of the language, [which] in turn made it easier for young actors without experience to give an uninhibited, natural performance and speech."[18]
Elle's Mia Rendić praised the show's authentic portrayal of teenagers in Croatia and their struggles, saying: "Not only does [Eva] face the problem of a new school, but she also acts like a normal teenager, bringing a boyfriend home when there is 'no one there', going to Medika and helping a girl she meets in the club's bathroom, which will definitely remind you of your own experiences."[19]
On the other hand, Josip Bošnjak, also writing for Index.hr, was far more critical of the show and HRT. He criticized the price paid for obtaining the adaptation licence, and claimed that the original series' plot isn't faithful to Croatian culture: "Is the public service, responsible for promotion and maintainance of Croatian culture, trying to convice us that... there isn't any interest for serious depictions of Croatian culture? Like, yikes! Norwegianly yikes, at that. Paid 915,793.25 euros."[20]
Audience
According to HRT, the series' premiere episode accumulated a total of 2.5 million views across social media during the first week after its release.[21] In the first two weeks after the premiere, the number of views on all digital platforms had risen to 11 million.[22] The positive response the series received online after the release of the first episode made headlines in Jutarnji list,[23]Slobodna Dalmacija,[24] and Index.hr.[25]
The song "Anđeo" (English: Angel), performed by Hiljson Mandela and Miach, was released on 28 October 2024, a day after the first episode premiered, as the official soundtrack for the series.[27] "Anđeo" debuted at numbers 13 and 3 on HR Top 40 and Billboard Croatia Songs, respectively.[28][29] In its second week, the song reached number one on both charts.[30][31]
"Someday Soon" (instrumental version) – Jackson Rau
"Bunga Party" – Vojko V
Notes
^The first clip from the first episode was released online on 22 October 2024, whereas the first full episode was broadcast on 27 October 2024 on HRT 1.
^ abBabić, Krsto (24 September 2024). "Hrt. Approvato il rapporto sui programmi dedicati alle Comunità nazionali" [Hrt. Report on programs dedicated to National Communities approved]. lavoce.hr (in Croatian). La Voce del Popolo. Archived from the original on 24 September 2024. Retrieved 24 September 2024. Parlando del progetto denominato Sram [...], che dovrebbe essere lanciato nell'ottobre prossimo, il direttore generale dell'HRT ha notato che una delle protagoniste sarà una giovane rom di nome Vanesa, il cui personaggio è stato pensato proprio per sfatare i luoghi comuni che riguardano il suo gruppo etnico. [Speaking about the project called Sram [...], which is due to be launched next October, the general director of HRT noted that one of the protagonists will be a young Roma girl named Vanessa, whose character was created precisely to dispel the clichés surrounding her ethnic group.]
^"Post by cgmfilms.hr". instagram.com (in Croatian). cgmfilms.hr on Instagram. 26 March 2024. Retrieved 26 June 2024. U potrazi smo za novim TEEN talentima za glavne uloge u svjetskoj HIT TV seriji. [We are looking for new TEEN talents for the main roles in the worldwide HIT TV series.]
^ ab"Pred prepunim dvoranama održana konferencija Blender: Film & Games 2024". sportske.jutarnji.hr (in Croatian). Jutarnji list. 7 October 2024. Archived from the original on 13 November 2024. Retrieved 10 October 2024. Hrvatska inačica ove popularne serije prije desetak dana je završila sa snimanjem, te će se prva sekvenca prve epizode (svaka epizoda ima pet sekvenci) 22.10. objaviti na You Tube kanalu, društvenim mrežama i službenoj web stranici serije.
_Logo.jpg){kind=logo}
