13-05-2014

Croatian Cinema in Cannes 2014

    Screenings of Croatian Films in Cannes 2014

    ZAGREB CAPPUCCINO by Vanja Sviličić
    2014 | 74’ | Colour | Drama

    Zagreb Cappuccino is the story of two best friends, Petra and Kika.Both women are in their early forties. Petra, in Zagreb, is getting divorced, and Kika arrives from Cologne to console her. Kika, a cosmopolitan party girl, teaches Petra how to carry on with her lifewithout a husband and a family. Over several cups of coffee and nights out we get to know their fears and problems, their solitude, insecurities and inner strength.

    Produced by Damir Terešak, MaXima Film, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

    MARKET SCREENING
    TUE | May 20 | 16:00 | GRAY 1

    HANDYMEN by Dalibor Matanić
    2013 | 75' | Colour | Comedy, Romance

    Keka is a virtuoso housewife whose marriage to Baja, an anxious railway worker, is in the doldrums. At the same time, Ilija, an extremely clumsy handyman, is seriously courting her. Fed up with her life, Keka decides to leave both of them and goes on a trip to the last place where she ever felt happy - a small coastal town where she and Baja spent their honeymoon. Baja and Ilija follow Keka to her coastal retreat to prove their love to her.

    Produced by Croatian Radiotelevision (HTV)

    MARKET SCREENING
    WED | May 21 | 10:00 | PALAIS G

    COWBOYS by Tomislav Mršić
    2013 | 105’ | Colour | Comedy, Drama

    Based on a stage play that was a hit in Croatia, this is the story of eight outsiders who try to create a stage play while breaking every rule of stagecraft.

    Produced by Suzana Pandek, Kabinet, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
    World sales WIDE Management, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

    MARKET SCREENING
    THU | May 15 | 12:00 | PALAIS G

    A PATRIOTIC MAN by Arto Halonen
    2014 | fi hr | 97’ | sport comedy

    A Patriotic Man tells the story of Toivo, the secret weapon for the Finnish ski team. His rare blood type can improve any athlete’s performance and lead the skiers to success. Toivo’s ethical dilemma takes us through a dark comedy with ultimately tragic overtones, as he works increasingly closely with one of the most talented skiers on the team, a young woman named Aino.

    Produced by Arto Halonen (Art Films Production – AFP (FI))
    Co-produced by Igor A.Nola (MP Films production (HR))

    World Sales WIDE Management This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

    TUE / May 20 / 12:00 / Olympia 3
    WED / May 21 / 11:30 / Palais H

    SHORT FILM CORNER
    Best of Croatian Shorts 2013/2014

    Fiction Films On shaky ground by Sonja Tarokić, Prettyboy by Saša Ban, Little darling by Igor Miković

    Animated Films The Dance is over, Maria by Natko Stipaničev, Out from the deep by Katrin Novaković, Bla by Martina Meštrović, Girl who loved Fairy-Tales by Čejen Černić

    Experimental Film The Smalest by Tomislav Šoban, We the People by Dalibor Martinis

    Documentary Film Autofokus by Boris Poljak

    CROATIAN AUDIOVISUAL CENTRE

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    DIRECTOR: Hrvoje Hribar
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     67th Cannes Film Festival: ‘The Chicken’ in the Critics’ Week, Vanja Jambrović and ‘Houston, We Have a Problem’ at Marché du Film

    The 67th edition of the Cannes Film Festival takes place 14-25 May. The short film The Chicken is screened in the 53rd Critics’ Week competition, and producer Vanja Jambrović and the Slovenian-Croatian co-production Houston, We Have a Problem take part in the festival industry section’s development programmes. The Croatian Audiovisual Centre continues its promotional activities at the Regional Pavilion, and Croatian films are again present at Marché du Film, Short Film Corner and Cinando.

    The Cchicken by Una Gunjak'The Chicken' at 53rd Critics' Week

    The 53rd Critics’ Week short film competition includes The Chicken, a German-Croatian co-production directed by Una Gunjak, whose action takes place in occupied Sarajevo. The film was fully made in Zagreb, and its Croatian producer is Siniša Juričić from Nukleus film, who also produced Sofia’s Last Ambulance – the Croatian co-production that premiered at the Critics’ Week two years ago, winning the France 4 Visionary Award.

    Le Marché du film: Vanja Jambrović and 'Houston, We Have a Problem'

    Croatian filmmakers and projects will also take part in Le Marché du film development programmes. Vanja Jambrović, the producer of successful documentaries Gangster of Love and Real Man’s Film, will participate in Producers on the Move, an initiative launched by European Film Promotion with the aim of professional development and networking of talented and successful European producers.

    The Slovenian-Croatian documentary and live action hybrid Houston, We Have a Problem, directed by Žiga Virc and produced by Siniša Juričić (Nukleus film), is one of the four projects to participate in the pitching of the NEXT section. This section is co-organised by Marché in association with the first European cross-media market Cross Video Days, with the aim of stimulating innovations in film art. NEXT takes place 14-25 May at the Next Pavilion (Village International Pantiero). Houston, We Have a Problem covers the urban myth according to which Tito saved the US reputation in the space race.

    Croatian Audiovisual Centre in Cannes

    For the seventh time around, the Croatian Audiovisual Centre (HAVC) will represent Croatian cinema at the film market with various publications, meetings and special market screenings. The market screenings will include Cowboys by Tomislav Mršić, Handymen by Dalibor Matanić, Zagreb Cappuccino by Vanja Sviličić, and the Finnish-Croatian film A Patriotic Man by Arto Halonen, in order to achieve as good a placement as possible on the international film scene.

    The HAVC representatives will also host meetings on the subject of exporting Croatian film services and future minority and majority co-productions. In terms of the preparations for foreign investments in a new Croatian film studio, negotiations with prospective partners will take place. Given the current political and industrial events (the first year of Creative Europe programme, Netflix’s penetration on the European market), Cannes will host sessions and meetings of all the key European and global film organisations and professional co-ordinations. Croatia and the HAVC representatives have a prominent role in most of these platforms.

    Short Film Corner and Cinando

    Croatian films will also be available at the Short Film Corner – a platform for encounters, networking, exchange of ideas and promotion among film professionals from the short film scene, and some of the more recent titles will be available at Cinando, a permanent film base intended for professionals from the industry.

    The 67th edition of the Cannes Film Festival takes place 14-25 May. More information about the selection is available on the official festival website.

     Follow this link to get all the practical information on Croatian films and filmmakers in Cannes, contacts, schedule etc. 

     

    Una Gunjak’s 'The Chicken' Selected for 53rd Critics’ Week in Cannes

    The German-Croatian co-production The Chicken, written and directed by Una Gunjak, has been selected for the short film competition at the International Critics’ Week, whose 53rd edition takes place 15-23 May during the Cannes Film Festival. The Croatian co-producer of The Chicken is Siniša Juričić from Nukleus film.

    Short film The Chicken takes place in Sarajevo during the war and focuses on the six-year-old girl Selma who gets a chicken as a birthday present from her father. Selma thinks the chicken is a pet, but her mother has other plans. “On several levels, The Chicken is a very personal film,” explains Una Gunjak, “starting from the fact that I was born and raised in Sarajevo during the war and that my father’s friend actually brought a real life chicken to our door because I wanted chicken and fries for my birthday. However, on a much more important level, for me this is an exodus of sorts – the story of my generation, of the children who grew up too soon and learned some lessons in life too quickly, sometimes in a frightening way.”

    The film stars Mirela Lambić, Esma Alić, Iman Alibalić and Mario Knezović. The director Una Gunjak also wrote the script, the director of photography is Matthias Pilz, editor Anja Siemens, and composer Bernd Schurer. The producer is Jelena Goldbach from the German production company Zak Film Productions, and the Croatian co-producer is Siniša Juričić from Nukleus film. The film was entirely made in Zagreb.

    The Chicken is the second project by Nukleus film that premiered at the Critics’ Week: Juričić also co-produced the multiple award-winning film Sofia’s Last Ambulance, which won the France 4 Visionary Award in 2012. “Another appearance at the Critics’ Week means that someone is acknowledging what we do, because one time is chance, and three times is luck,” said Siniša Juričić.

    “I am by nature a distance runner and I often compare everything else with long tracks. Let’s say that The Chicken in the Critics’ Week selection is like running 10 kilometres at the Olympics and winning a gold medal. A marvellous award and a big thank you to everyone who worked on the film and who supported it,” said Gunjak.

    Una Gunjak (Sarajevo, 1986) graduated in film studies from the University of Turin in 2008 and in 2010 she obtained an MA in editing from the prestigious National Film and Television School in London, where she currently resides and works as an editor and directs fiction and documentary films and commercials. The Chicken is her first professional creative project. During 2012 the film was developed at the European Short Pitch screenplay programme organised by NISI MASA European youth film network, won the co-production award of the famous Robert Bosch Foundation in the Germany-Easter Europe category, and was co-funded by the Croatian Audiovisual Centre.

    The 53rd edition of the International Critics’ Week takes place 15-23 May during the 67th Cannes Film Festival. More information about the Critics’ Week programme can be found on the official website, and high resolution images from The Chicken can be downloaded here.