The world premiere of the Croatian minority co-production, Burning Days, by Turkish director Emin Alper is on the programme on 23rd May, at the Théâtre Claude Debussy, as part of the competition in the section Un Certain Regard.
The film centres on a young and idealistic Emre who assumes the position of state prosecutor in the town of Balkaya, plagued by water shortages for some time. As local elections draw closer, Emre faces the complexities of small-town politics in a place where everyone is living out their own version of truth.
Burning Days is a Turkish company Liman Film production (with Nadir Öperli as producer), created in co-production with France (Laurent Lavole, Gloria Films Production), Germany (Michael Weber, Pola Pandora Filmproduktions), the Netherlands (Stienette Bosklopper, Circe Films), Greece (Yorgos Tsourgiannis, Horsefly Films) and Croatia (Anita Juka, 4Film). The film’s sales representative is Match Factory.
Croatian crew members on the project, alongside co-producer Anita Juka and associate producers Laura Sinovčić and Paulina Križić, include Goran Mećava as steadycam operator, Krešimir Rodić as production sound mixer and Daniel Žuvela as boom operator.
The second Croatian minority co-production, also co-produced by Anita Juka (for 4Film), Butterfly Vision directed by Ukrainian Maksym Nakonechnyi will premiere globally in the same festival section on 25th May, also at the Théâtre Debussy.
Butterfly Vision is a harsh and surreal story about a Ukrainian woman named Lilia who, after spending months as a prisoner of war, struggles to return to her life as a soldier and wife in her homeland, refusing to be labelled a victim. The script was co-written by Maksym Nakonechnyi and Iryna Tsilyk.
Besides co-producer Anita Juka, the film crew involved the participation of many other film professionals from Croatia, including cast members Daria Lorenci Flatz and Edvin Liverić, editor Ivor Ivezić, assistant editor Doris Dodig, and editing supervisor Vladimir Gojun, while the editing process was done at production house 4Film in Zagreb. Production coordinator was Paulina Križić, with Laura Sinovčić as executive producer.
The film is produced by a company from Ukraine, Tabor Production, co-produced by 4Film from Croatia, MasterFilm from the Czech Republic and Sisyfos Film Production from Sweden.
Both films have been supported by the Croatian Audiovisual Centre.
Un Certain Regard is an official section of the Cannes Film Festival, considered the second most important programme of the festival. Launched in 1978, it traditionally focuses on titles with a unique story and visual signature, capable of producing a lasting impact on viewers worldwide. The entire screening timetable of films in official competitions is available here.
Judita Gamulin at the Cinéfondation residency
Director Judita Gamulin has spent several months in Paris at the Cannes FF residency Cinéfondation, where she has been developing her debut feature Leave the Door Open. The film’s producer is Rea Rajčić for Eclectica. The residency participants will have a chance to pitch their projects in front of industry professionals during the festival in Cannes, on 18th May, while a three-member jury will choose and award the best projects.
Leave the Door Open is a comedy drama that traces four different families over the course of one day that converge at an Ikea store in Zagreb hoping to change their lives by redecorating their homes. But at crowded and claustrophobic Ikea, we observe that places where people come wanting to organize their living spaces often lead to total chaos in their personal relationships.
Rea Rajčić at New Producers Room
Croatian producer Rea Rajčić is meanwhile participating at the new platform New Producers Room taking place as part of the week-long Short Film Corner / Rendez-vous Industry intended for film professional working with short films. The programme is held at the heart of Marché du Film, running 23rd – 27th May.
The aim of the New Producers Room platform is to highlight upcoming young production talents and offer them a space to explore co-production opportunities and make strong connections for the future.
In addition to Ree Rajčić, nine other producers are participating in the platform. After a series of sessions dedicated to production and distribution, participants will gather on 25th May for a joint presentation and matchmaking session.
One of the partners of New Producers Room is the Croatian Audiovisual Centre.
The Croatian Audiovisual Centre at Cannes
For the fifteenth year running, the Croatian Audiovisual Centre will present Croatian cinema and filmmaking at Marché du film. Using publications, events and digital platforms, the Centre’s representatives will showcase completed Croatian films of all genres and types presenting them to film professionals at the market (customers and festival selectors). The Centre will also be available as logistical and lobbying support to all Croatian authors and producers negotiating their current and future projects at Cannes this year.
For the purpose of promotion of the current Croatian production, a new promotional booklet focusing on new Croatian films, ‘New Croatian Features & Shorts 1/2022’ has been published, available here.
In order to promote Croatian shorts, the Croatian Audiovisual Centre has reserved a space for Croatian titles at the Short Film Corner – a platform for meeting, networking, exchanging ideas and promotion among professionals on the short film scene. The titles to be featured are: Rok Biček’s Penalty Shot, Davor Sanvincenti's Places We’ll Breathe, David Gašo’s Incendiary, Darko Masnec’ Salute to the Sun, Sunčica Fradelić’s While We Were Here, Marko Dugonjić’s A Moving Target and Borna Zidarić’s Alone.
Other events
In addition, the CEO of the Centre, Chris Marcich, will moderate a panel discussion held at the Israeli pavilion at Marché on 20th May. The panel under the title Small Scale – Big Films will discuss how different film commissions and institutes tackle current problems and how they are helping national film industries in these challenging times. Participating in the panel are Aleksandra Božović (Film Centre of Montenegro), Nataša Bučar (Slovenian Film Centre), Stavroula Geronimaki (Hellenic Film Commission), Melik Karapetyan (National Cinema Center of Armenia), Natalie Movshovych (Ukrainian Film Institute) and Diomides Nikita (Cyprus Ministry of Education, Culture, Youth and Sports).
In addition, Croatian actor Luka Peroš, who earned international attention by appearing in the popular Spanish Netflix series Money Heist, will participate in a number of industry events, including a lecture on international acting careers (Navigating the Globe: How Actors are Building International Careers in the Digital Age).
The Trial at Cannes Classics
Orson Welles’ digitally restored The Trial (1962) will have its world premiere screening at Cannes Classics. Welles’ cinematic adaptation of Franz Kafka’s eponymous novel was mostly shot in Zagreb, while the company Globus-Dubrava participated in the production.
The restoration was undertaken by STUDIO CANAL (2022) and Cinémathèque Française. The screening will be attended by the film’s co-writer, Gil Quinto.
The Cannes Film Festival is one of the biggest and most important film events in the world, this year taking place 17th – 28th May. The opening film of the festival is French director Michel Hazanavicius’ Final Cut.
