Directors’ Fortnight: Murina by Antoneta Alamat Kusijanović

Murina is a psychological family drama set on one of the Croatian islands, depicting the events taking place during the course of four days, and it is a continuation of sorts of the director’s multi-award-winning short, Into the Blue. The film was shot on the islands of Hvar, Koločep and the Kornati archipelago. 

Antoneta Alamat Kusijanović co-wrote the script together with Frank Graziano, while Danijel Pek (Antitalent) and Rodrigo Teixeira (RT Features) produced the film, alongside co-producers Zdenka Gold (Spiritus Movens), Jožko Rutar (SPOK Films) and Miha Černec (Staragara). 

The Directors’ Fortnight (Quinzaine des réalisateurs) is held in parallel to the Cannes Film Festival, presenting short, feature and documentary films from across the globe. Over the years, the programme has alerted the attention of the audience and critics to some of the most successful directors of today, with debut films by Werner Herzog, Martin Scorsese and Ken Loach screening precisely in this programme. More information about the Directors’ Fortnight, held 7th – 17th July, is available here.    

Producers on the Move: Bojan Kanjera

European Film Promotion has selected Croatian producer Bojan Kanjera to participate in the Producers on the Move platform, which is traditionally held live during the Cannes Film Festival, but was this year transferred online and took place 17th – 21st May. However, a portion of the programme will take place at the festival itself, from 9th to 11th July.    

Producers on the Move is conceived as a networking platform with the aim of fostering European film co-productions. The participants take part in lectures, workshops and one-on-one meetings with film industry experts and receive a chance to be featured in international industry publications. In addition to Kanjera, 19 other producers will participate in the platform, while more details, as well as a list of all the participants may be found on the official EFP website.  

Dalija Dozet’s My Dad’s Lessons at Cannes Docs

The CIRCLE Women Doc Accelerator, an international programme devoted to female directors and producers of documentary films, will showcase four selected projects at Cannes Docs, taking place during the Cannes Film Market. One of the projects presented will be Dalija Dozet’s My Dad’s Lessons.

The documentary in progress, My Dad’s Lessons, examines the relationship between a father cinematographer and daughter director, bringing them together through the shared language of cinema. The family portrait about growing up and the relationship between a father and daughter is an attempt to express what they were not brave or wise enough to say while they were still together. 

In addition to directing the film, Dalija Dozet also penned the script. The project’s producer is Dana Budisavljević (of Hulahop), Luka Matić is credited with cinematography, Sara Gregorić with film editing, while the film is co-produced by Slovenian production company December. My Dad’s Lessons received the support from the Croatian Audiovisual Centre, the City of Zagreb and RE-ACT.  

The selected projects will be pitched to festival programmers, sales agents and other key industry professionals, while Cannes Docs will be held onsite and online, during Marché du Film.

A list of all the projects may be found here, while the entire CIRCLE Women Doc Accelerator programme at the Cannes Film Market is available here. 

CIRCLE Women Doc Accelerator was initiated in 2018 with the aim of creating a unique collaborative platform for female documentary directors and producers.

The Croatian Audiovisual Centre at Cannes

For the 14th consecutive year the Croatian Audiovisual Centre (HAVC) will showcase Croatian cinema at Marché du Film, held 6th – 15th July. The market screening will include Antoneta Alamat Kusijanović’s Murina, Zrinko Ogresta’s A Blue Flower and Sonja Tarokić’s The Staffroom.  

Also, HAVC representatives will introduce film professionals (buyers and festival programmers) at the Market to recently completed Croatian film projects of all types and genres through brochures, meetings and a digital platform. HAVC will also provide logistic and lobbying support to all Croatian authors and producers negotiating their current and future projects at Marché du Film this year.  

For the purpose of promoting the latest Croatian film production, HAVC has published a promotional brochure focusing on fresh Croatian titles, called New Croatian Features & Shorts II/2021, available for download here. 

The Short Film Corner

With the aim of promoting short films, the Croatian Audiovisual Centre has created a space for Croatian shorts at the Short Film Corner – a platform for meetings, networking, idea exchange and promotion of film professionals on the short film scene. The films featured in the section are: ​

• Nina Kurtela’s Dear Aki
• Bruno Razum’s Can You See Them?
• The Raft by Marko Meštrović
• Real Boy by Irena Jukić Pranjić
• Lurch directed by Jasna Nanut, Čejen Černić Čanak and Judita Gamulin
• Just Between Us by Petra Balekić
• Boris Homovec’s I Don’t Know Who We Are
• Marko by Marko Šantić
• Ninth Session directed by Mislav Muretić
• Salt Water directed by Paula Mangano (minority Croatian co-production)