Pula Film Festival

Croatian film

Selected films:

Children of Transition, Matija Vukšić 
Naked Island, Tiha Gudac 
Ungiven, Branko Schmidt
Love or Death, Daniel Kušan
Consumed, Borut Šeparović 
The Spirits Diary, Damir Čučić 
The Enchanting Porkers, Ivan Livaković
These Are the Rules, Ognjen Sviličić
You Carry Me, Ivona Juka
Zagreb Stories Vol. 3, group of authors
The High Sun, Dalibor Matanić

Children of Transition
Documentary film, Croatia, 2014, 82 min

Director: Matija Vukšić
Producer: Nenad Puhovski - Factum
Screenplay: Matija Vukšić
Lead actress: /
Lead actor: /
Supporting actresses: /
Supporting actors: /
DOP: Mario Marko Krce; Montaža: Ana Šerić
Art director: /
Costumes: /;
Music: Bianca Ban
Sound: Ivan Šmintić
Make up: /;
Special effects: /

Children of Transition is a coming-of-age story about David, Natalija, Lana and Marta. What do a happy childhood and healthy growing up look like? Are they possible in a society which has not yet reached its own maturity? This is a film about the environment we create for our common future.

Naked Island
Documentary film, Croatia, 2014, 75 min

Director: Tiha K. Gudac
Producer: Nenad Puhovski - Factum
Screenplay: Tiha K. Gudac
Lead actress: /
Lead actor: /
Supporting actresses: /
Supporting actors: /
DOP: Eva Kraljević, Tamara Cesarec, Srđan Kovačević, Tiha K. Gudac
Editor: Dragan von Petrovic
Art director: /
Costumes: /;
Music: Dubravko Robić
Sound: Ivan Zelić
Make-up: /;
Special effects: Bruno Razum

Some sixty years ago, a man went missing for four years. He returned back a changed man carrying along a painful secret. He later built his family’s life around this unspoken secret. Talking about the past was forbidden in the family. . Naked Island is an investigation built upon the ruins of the past, a mosaic made of clues – family photos and intimate testimonies of a tightknit group of people who were brought together by the same place, a political prison in ex-Yugoslavia that was also known as an island of broken souls, and consequences that this place left on three generations.

Ungiven
Drama, Croatia, 2015, 83 min

Director: Branko Schmidt
Producers: Goran Radman, Hrvatska radiotelevizija
Screenplay: Josip Mlakić
Lead actress: Nada Đurevska
Lead actor: Ivo Gregurević
Supporting actresses: /
Supporting actors: Goran Bogdan
DOP: Dragan Ruljančić
Editors: Vesna Lažeta, Hrvoje Mršić
Art director: Ivana Škrabalo
Costumes: Lena Andrijević
Music: /;
Sound: Ognjen Popić
Make-up: Jasna Rossini
Special effects: Branko Repalust, Kristijan Repalust

Determined to move on with their life violently interrupted by war several years ago, an elderly couple returns to their restored home. We follow their everyday life through the four seasons. Every day She becomes more absent and lost. Instead of helping her, He acts brutishly, sometimes even cruelly, towards his wife. However, the realisation that something is wrong with Her will make Him question his behaviour and values.

Love or Death
Children's film, Croatia, 2014., 95 min

Director: Daniel Kušan
Producer: Ankica Jurić Tilić - Kinorama
Screenplay: Daniel Kušan
Lead actress: Vanja Markovinović
Lead actor: Antonio Parač
Supporting actresses: Nina Mileta, Tesa Litvan, Tara Thaller, Korana Ugrina, Ilijana Knežević
Supporting actors: Kristian Bonačić, Filip Mayer, Marin Stević
DOP: Mario Sablić i Filip Tot
Editor: Slaven Zečević
Art director: Ivan Veljača
Costumes: Emina Kušan
Music: Dinko Appelt;
Sound: Dubravka Premar
Make-up: Mojca Gorogranc Petrushevska
Special effects: Branko Repalust, Kristijan Repalust

It seems that football is still the most important thing in Koko's life and Zlatko is still spending every second reading books and scolding Koko for being immature. To prove him wrong, Koko tells him that he is unhappily in love with the mysterious girl, a girl who is as magical as the heroines from Zlatko’s novels. Koko’s sister Marica, friends Ema and Melita have their own band – Koko’s team will go to a concert, as will the girls go to their football games. We will find out whether the boys are really that interested in music and the girls in football in the new film from the Koko serial.

Consumed
Documentary film, Croatia, 2014, 93 min

Director: Borut Šeparović
Producer: Borut Šeparović - Montažstroj
Screenplay: Borut Šeparović
Lead actress: /
Lead actor: /
Supporting actresses: /
Supporting actors: /
DOP: Vjekoslav Gašparović, Denis Lepur, David Oguić, Goran Ostojić, Tomislav Pović, Ivan Slipčević, Marko Stanić
Editor: Jan Klemsche
Art director: Borut Šeparović
Costumes: /;
Music: Martin Semenčić
Sound: Martin Semenčić
Make-up: /;
Special effects: /

The protagonists of the film are persons over the age of 55 – those who have more than 30 million minutes of life behind them. The film shows their partaking in an audition and in the process of making a theatre performance and a documentary. They are challenged to tell about the most important minute in their life in as many seconds as their age. They talk about life and death, happiness and pain in a brutally honest way. CONSUMED records the process in which the protagonists become more than just randomly gathered individuals: As a collective, they have to deal with the decades of their own.

The Spirits Diary
Experimental documentary, Croatia, 2015, 81 min

Director: Damir Čučić
Producer: Vera Robić-Škarica, Hrvatski filmski savez
Screenplay: Damir Čučić, Mario Haber, Boris Poljak
Lead actress: /
Lead actor: Mario Haber
Supporting actresses: /
Supporting actors: /
DOP: Boris Poljak
Editor: Damir Čučić
Art director: /
Costumes: /;
Music: Goran Štrbac
Sound: Martin Semenčić
Make-up: /;
Special effects: /

Mario Haber (aka Eric Maria Strom) was a modern-day alchemist: a professional sound engineer who illegaly distilled spirits in his basement, a sort of sanctuary where he used to invite his friends and occasional lovers to taste and enjoy his home made brandy. For over a decade, Mario recorded conversations taking place around the house and the fermenter, until the day he himself turned into a spirit. The Spirits Diary is a later day visual reconstruction of those original audio recordings, a film you need ”to see with your ears”.

The Enchanting Porkers
Black comedy, Croatia, 2015, 95 min

Director: Ivan Livaković
Producers: Sanja Vejnović, Goran Mećava, Ivan Maloča, Fos Film
Co-producer: HRT, Interfilm, Jadran film, Studio Ritem
Screenplay: Ivan Livaković
Lead actress: Iva Visković
Lead actor: Marin Radman
Supporting actresses: Ana Maras, Iva Mihalić, Ivana Roščić, Marina Redžepović, Jasna Bilušić, Nera Stipičević, Senka Bulić, Ljerka Boroša, Jadranka Matković
Supporting actors: Damir Poljičak, Goran Bogdan, Vili Matula, Slaven Knezović, Ivica Gunjača, Srećko Vujčić, Miloš Vujsić, Miran Kurspahić
DOP: Daniel Ruljančić
Editor: Maida Srabović
Art director: Željka Burić
Costumes: Lidija Sertić
Music: Martian war machine
Sound: Borna Buljević, Tonći Tafra
Make-up: Iva Kurobasa, Tina Jesenković
Special effects: Branko Repalust
Visual effects: Vedran Štefan

The Enchanting Porkers are a satirical antimusical dealing with the phenomena of media sensationalism and the overwhelming news bombarding which trivializes the most serious painful themes .It talks about the media manipulation, mass hysteria, thirst for fame and how people are ready to do just about anything, more than ever before, to get their 15 minutes in the spotlight.

These Are The Rules
Drama, Croatia, France, Serbia, Macedonia, 2014, 77 min

Director: Ognjen Sviličić
Producers: Damir Terešak, Janja Kralj – Maxima Film
Co-productions: Kinoelektron (France), Biberche Productions (Serbia) Nikolina Vučetić
Zečević, Trice Films Skopje (Macedonia) Svetozar Ristovski
Screenplay: Ognjen Sviličić
Lead actress: Jasna Žalica
Lead actor: Emir Hadžihafizbegović
Supporting actresses: Veronika Mach, Ana Begić, Sanja Drakulić, Mirta Zečević, Mirela Brekalo
Supporting actors: Hrvoje Vladisavljević, Goran Bogdan, Nikša Butijer, Slaven Španović, Stjepan Perić
DOP: Crystel Fournier
Editor: Atanas Georgiev
Art director: Ivan Veljača
Costumes: Katarina Zaninović
Music: /;
Sound: Tomislav Gašparić, Jean-Guy Veran
Make-up: Irena Hadrović
Special effects: /

Ivo is a 50-year old busdriver. His spouse Maja is a housewife. Their son Tomica isabout to graduate from high school. They live in an old socialist building in Zagreb and are content with their calm and ordinary life. Everything changes when Tomica comes home beaten up.

You Carry Me
Drama, Croatia, 2015, 155 min

Director: Ivona Juka
Producer: Anita Juka - Četiri Film d.o.o.
Co-productions: Vertigo zavod za kulturne dejavnosti (Ljubljana, Slovenia) - Danijel Hočevar; Sloane Film Production d.o.o. (Belgrade, Serbia) - Biljana Niković; Jabuka d.o.o. (Montenegro)
Screenplay: Ivona Juka
Lead actress: Nataša Dorčić, Lana Barić, Helena Beljan
Lead actor: Vojislav Brajović
Supporting actress: Nataša Janjić
Supporting actors: Sebastian Cavazza, Goran Hajduković, Filip Križan, Juraj Dabić (as Jan) and Bruno Klabučar
DOP: Mario Oljača
Editor: Vladimir Gojun
Art director: Fm Marketing, Lirnes Design, Art Centar, Vladimir Đurović, Ivan Ivan
Costumes: Ivana Zozoli Vargović
Music: Teho Teardo
Sound: Julij Zornik, Studio Nazor d.o.o., Studio 100 d.o.o.
Make-up: Snježana Gorup
Special effects: Mirnovec d.o.o., Nikola Koletić, Stjepan Župančić, Matija Cesnik, Mato Vrban, Marko Runkas, Branko Repalust
Visual effects: Zoran Čulić, Nebojša Rogić

Dora is a neglected girl, who dreams about becoming a football manager. Suddenly, her outlaw father enters her life and they build a close relationship. Ives, a soap opera director, nurses her father who suffers from Alzheimer’s. As she loses him, she gradually loses the ground beneath her feet. Nataša, successful producer, is pregnant. When things go awry for her, she decides to confront her estranged father. Three daughters battle for acceptance, redemption and new opportunities.

Zagreb Stories Vol. 3
Omnibus, Croatia, 2015, 95 min

Directors: Ivan Salaj, Pero Orešković, Matija Vukšić, Vlatka Vorkapić, Danilo Šerbedžija, Radislav Jovanov Gonzo
Producers: Boris T. Matić i Lana Ujdur

Omnibus episodes:

Resistance Day
Running time: 18'
Director: Ivan Salaj
Screenplay: Ivan Salaj, based on a short story by Roberta Perišića "No God in Susedgrad"
Leading roles: Filip Križan, Borko Perić, Ivana Rushaidat, Franjo Dijak
DOP: Silvio Jesenković
Editor: Dubravka Turić
Art Director: Veronika Radman
Costumes: Katarina Zaninović
On May Day, two good-for-nothings decide to pay a visit to their old friend and meet his wife and kid…

Celebration of Democracy
Running time: 13'55''
Director: Pero Orešković
Screenplay: Natko Jurdana
Leading Roles: Franjo Džimi Jurčec, Tihana Lazović, Pjer Meničanin, Slavica Knežević, Enes Vejzović
DOP: Mak Vejzović
Editor: Ana Marija Sremec
Art Director: Veronika Radman
Costumes: Katarina Zaninović
If you're old, poor and crazy,
f*ck the system,
don't be lazy!

Goran's Street
Running time: 6' 55''
Director: Matija Vukšić
Screenplay: Matija Vukšić
Leading roles: Mia Rendić, Juraj Čižić
DOP: Raul Brzić
Editor: Vladimir Gojun
Art Director: Veronika Radman
Costumes: Katarina Zaninović
On the Feast of the Assumption, in the deserted downtown Zagreb, little Lana meets a next-door boy who spends his days looking through the window. A simple suggestion to play together will reveal a secret that will make Lana question her attitude to God, life and herself.

Epiphany
Running time: 16'
Director: Vlatka Vorkapić
Screenplay: Vlatka Vorkapić
Leading roles: Judita Franković, Ksenija Marinković
DOP: Dragan Marković
Editor: Marin Juranić
Art Director: Veronika Radman
Costumes: Morana Starčević
Who are the three men the daughter sees when she visits her mother?

Walnut
Running time: 19'47''
Director: Danilo Šerbedžija
Screenplay: Danilo Šerbedžija
Leading roles: Živko Anočić, Lucija Šerbedžija
DOP: Danko Vučinović
Editor: Jan Klemsche
Art Director: Veronika Radman
Costumes: Katarina Zaninović
You fall into routine, and close your self in a cocoon. And then an unexpected, absurd detail unleashes an outpour of repressed emotions.

Thunder
Running time: 18'13''
Director: Radislav Jovanov Gonzo
Screenplay: Jasna Žmak
Leading roles: Jelena Lopatić, Jerko Marčić, Mate Gulin
DOP: Danko Vučinović
Editor: Anita Jovanov
Art Director: Veronika Radman
Costumes: Morana Starčević
May Day is about to be particularly hard for Bruno and Iva: not only will they both have to work, but their bicycle – their only transport – will be stolen. However, an early retired neighbor will save the day and thus give a new meaning to some old things…

The High Sun
Romance/drama, Croatia, Slovenia, Serbia, 2015, 123 min

Director: Dalibor Matanić
Producer: Ankica Jurić Tilić – Kinorama
Co-producers: Gustav film (Slovenia) - Petra Vidmar, Frenk Celarc; SEE Film Pro (Serbia) – Nenad Dukić, Miroslav Mogorović
Screenplay: Dalibor Matanić
Lead actress: Tihana Lazović
Lead actor: Goran Marković
Supporting actresses: Nives Ivanković, Mira Banjac, Lukrecija Tudor, Tara Rosandić, Ksenija Marinković
Supporting actors: Dado Ćosić, Stipe Radoja, Trpimir Jurkić, Slavko Sobin
DOP: Marko Brdar
Montaža: Tomislav Pavlic
Art director: Mladen Ožbolt
Costumes: Ana Savić Gecan
Music: Alen Sinkauz i Nenad Sinkauz;
Sound: Julij Zornik
Make-up: Mojca Gorogranc Petrushevska, Talija Ivančič
Special effects: Branko Repalust
Visual effects: Nebojša Rogić

Three different love stories, set in three consecutive decades, in two neighbouring Balkan villages burdened with a long history of inter-ethnic hatred: this is a film about the dangers – and the enduring strength – of forbidden love.

Minority co-production

Selected films:

We Will Be the World Champions, Darko Bajić 
The Girls - Life of Another, Andrea Štaka 
No One's Child, Vuk Ršumović 

We Will Be the World Champions
Historical/drama, Serbia, Slovenia, Croatia, 2015., 125 min

Director: Darko Bajić
Producers: Dejan Petrović, Zvonimir Šimunec
Production: Intermedia Network (SRB)
Co-producers: Ankica Jurić Tilić, Tijana Višnjić, Aleš Pavlin, Andrej Štritof
Executive producer: Miroslav Mogorović
Co-production: Kinorama (HR), Perfo (SLO)
Screenplay: Nebojša Romčević, Ognjen Sviličić, Gordan Mihić, based on the idea by Zvonimir Šimunec
Lead actress: Iva Babić
Lead actors: Strahinja Blažić, Aleksandar Radojičić, Miloš Biković, Marko Janketić, Leon Lučev, Nebojša Dugalić
Supporting actresses: Katarina Čas, Tamara Dragičević, Nina Janković
Supporting actors: Sergej Trifunović, Jure Henigman, Goran Bogdan, Stefan Kapičić, Igor Kovač, Robert Kurbaša, Krešimir Petar Ćosić, Lazar Ristovski
DOP: Milan Tvrdišić
Editor: Andrija Zafranović
Set design: Jelena Sopić
Costumes: Dragica Laušević
Music: Zoran Kiki Lesandrić
Sound: Velibor Hajduković
Make-up: Kuno Schlegelmilch and Halid Redžebašić
Special effects: /

We Will Be the World Champions is a story about four pioneers who fathered the Yugoslav school of basketball, and whose merit is the development of this sport in Europe. The central event is the crucial game at World Cup 1970 between Yugoslavia and the United States. From the point of view of the main character, Nebojša Popović, we follow the growth and life path of enthusiasts, whose professional work, ideas and efforts made their major dream come true, the first gold medal for Yugoslavia in world championships.

The Girls - Life of Another
Drama, Croatia, Switzerland, 2014., 83 min

Director: Andrea Štaka
Producers: Andrea Štaka, Thomas Imbach
Production: Okofilm (Švicarska)
Co-production: Produkcija Živa d.o.o. Zagreb, Leon Lučev; Deblokada - Bosna i Hercegovina; Damir Ibrahimović, Jasmila Žbanić
Screenplay: Andrea Štaka, Thomas Imbach
Lead actress: Sylvie Marinković, Lucia Radulović
Lead actor: Leon Lučev
Supporting actresses: Mirjana Karanović, Marija Škaričić
Supporting actors: Franjo Dijak
DOP: Martin Gschlacht; Montaža: Tom La Belle
Set design: Su Erdt
Costumes: Linda Harper
Music: Milica Paranosić
Sound: Sascha Heiny
Make-up: Marina Aebi
Special effects: /

Dubrovnik 1993. 14-year-old Linda has moved back to Croatia from Switzerland with her father. Her new best friend Eta takes her up to the forbidden forest above the city. The two girls become entangled in an obsessive, sexually charged game of swapping identities that leads to a fatal fall. The following morning Linda comes back alone; slowly she begins to take Eta’s place in her family. Ivo, Eta‘s boyfriend, is drawn in as well. In troubled times dominated by women and the losses they have suffered in the war, Linda threatens to lose her footing, becoming entrapped in another world on the edge.

No One's Child
Drama, Serbia, Croatia, 2014., 97 min

Director: Vuk Ršumović
Producers: Miroslav Mogorović - Art&Popcorn (SRB)
Co-productions: BaBoon Production (SRB), RTS Radio Televizija Srbije, Ankica Jurić Tilić – Kinorama (HR)
Screenplay: Vuk Ršumović
Lead actress: /
Lead actor: Denis Murić
Supporting actresses: Isidora Janković, Borka Tomović, Zinaida Dedakin, Branka Šelić
Supporting actors: Pavle Čemerikić, Miloš Timotijević, Tihomir Stanić, Goran Šušljik
DOP: Damjan Radovanović
Editor: Mirko Bojović
Art director: Jelena Sopić
Costumes: Maja Mirković
Music: Jura Ferina, Pavao Miholjević
Sound: Dubravka Premar
Make-up: /
Special effects: Vladan Đurić

In 1988 hunters capture a wild boy among wolves deep in the Bosnian mountains. Without identity, the boy is given a name Haris, and sent to an orphanage in 1 / 4 Belgrade. The wild boy begins a slow and difficult path of socialization and slowly becomes ready for a normal life. It's 1992 and the war in Bosnia is raging. A letter from the local authorities arrives, requesting Haris' instant return. Haris ends up amid war. He is given a rifle and sent to the frontline. After a fierce battle, he leaves the army and goes back to the mountains where he was found.

Jury

Croatian Competition Jury:

Maurizio Braucci, Naples 1966, is an Italian novelist and screenwriter. His first novel Il mare guasto is translated into French (La mer détraquée, Métailié, 2000). As a screenwriter he wrote for Matteo Garrone (Gomorrah, 2008; Reality, 2012), Abel Ferrara (Napoli, Napoli, Napoli, 2009 ; Pasolini, 2014), Leonardo di Costanzo (The Interval, 2012), Giuseppe Gagliardi (Tatanka, 2010), and Francesco Munzi (Black souls, 2014). With Gomorrah he won the EFA 2008, the Chicago International Film Festival 2008, and the David di Donatello 2009 as best screenwriter. He lives in Naples where he promotes social projects for young people living in underprivileged conditions.

Bernd Buder, born in 1964 in Berlin (West), studied Political Sciences at the Freie Universität of Berlin. From 1996 to 2005 he was the programme director of the Berlin art film cinema “Berliner Filmkunsthaus Babylon”. He has been consulting several film festivals, among them the Forum section at the Berlin International Film Festival and the “Cinedays” in Skopje. From 2011 to 2014 he was the director of the East-West co-production market “connecting cottbus”. Since 2013 he has been the programme director of the FilmFestival Cottbus. He also works as a moderator and film journalist.

Zlatko Burić, born in Osijek in 1953, is a stage and screen actor, performer, musician, author of stage productions. He is one of the founders of Kugla glumište, the most important alternative multimedia group in the former Yugoslavia. From the mid-1980s, he has lived and worked in Copenhagen. In 1996, he made the film Pusher by Nicolas Winding Refn. The role in the film garnered him the Bodil Award, the most important Danish acting award. The role in Nicolas Winding Refn's trilogy Pusher, Pusher II – With Blood on my Hands (1997) and Pusher III – I'm the Angel of Death (2005) earned him the best interpretation award at the Italian Courmayer Noir Film Festival. He made an appearance in the films Bleeder (1999) by Nicolas Winding Refn, Dirty Pretty Things by Stephen Frears (2002), the Hollywood hit 2012 by Roland Emmerich (2009), The Reaper by Zvonimir Jurić, and a number of television series. He has made theatrical appearances at the Royal Danish Theatre and Theatre Republique, among others. In 1993, he established the Telepathic International Group T.I.G., a multimedia group where he works as author, singer and performer. He has participated in a number of independent productions and cooperated with a large number of European artists.

Srđan Kurpjel M.P.S.E., born in Sarajevo in 1971, is a sound designer who has worked as orchestrator and arranger with Goran Bregović on the films Underground (1995), Arizona Dream (1993), and many more. He has collaborated with producers and directors such as Igor Nola, Mike Downey, Rajko Grlić, Pjer Žalica, as well as Gabrielle Salvatore, Paolo Sorrentino, Ridley Scott, etc. He made an international career in 2002 when he established his own company Zound in London, Istanbul, Bruxelles, Dubrovnik and Sarajevo. In 2015, he worked as a sound designer and sound mixer on the films Elser by Oliver Hirschbiegel, Royal Night Out by Julian Jarrold and Eisenstein in Guanajuato by Peter Greenaway. In 2010, he received a Special Golden Arena for Best Sound for Rajko Grlić’s Just Between Us and the 2008 Porin Award for the production and musical arrangements of an album by Nina Badrić.

Kristijan Milić, born in Zagreb in 1969, he received a degree in Film and Television Directing from the Academy of Dramatic Art in Zagreb in 2001. Since 2000 he has been actively engaged in directing music videos and commercials. His short feature film “Safe House”(2002) is part of the omnibus “24 Hours”, the film that won the Breza Award for Best Debut at the Pula Film Festival. He received the Golden Arena for Best Director for his feature-length debut “The Living and the Dead” (2007). His film Number 55, based on true events which happened during the Croatian War of Independence, won 8 Golden Arenas including the most important one for Best Film. Besides shooting numerous films and commercials, he also directed the following TV series: „Rest in Peace“ (Počivali u miru), “Lara’s Choice” (Larin izbor), “The Best Years of Our Lives” (Najbolje godine), „Hitna 94“ and “Don’t Give Up, Nina” (Ne daj se Nina), a re-made version of Colombian television series “Yo soy Betty, la fea”.