"We are very happy that our film Petty Thieves had its world premiere right here at Karlovy Vary. The atmosphere at the screening was wonderful, and we are particularly delighted by the warm response from the audience and the conversations that unfolded after the film. We hope this is only the beginning of a beautiful festival journey for the film", said Mate Ugrin.

The film was presented in person by the cast and crew, led by Ugrin, producer Daria Blažević, and actors Gavrilo Jović, Tea Ljubešić, and Izudin Bajrović.

The Proxima Competition is a space for new authorial voices from around the globe and across the vast cinematic spectrum. Showcasing works by upcoming filmmakers and adventurous works by renowned auteurs, it aims to complement the Crystal Globe Competition by celebrating contemporary cinema with a collection of forward-thinking and exciting discoveries. Both feature-length fiction and documentary films presented as world or international premieres are eligible.

Petty Thieves follows Rio, a quiet young man from central Istria who combines his hotel job with occasional petty theft. At home he clashes with his grandmother over the care of his grandfather who suffers from dementia. When seasonal worker Andrea catches him in the act, she proposes joining forces in order to rob her wealthy clients.

The film is produced by Daria Blažević and Mate Ugrin. It was realised by the Croatian arts organisation Kadromat, in co-production with In the Cut (France), Fünferfilm (Germany), and Nanslafu Films (Serbia), with co-producers Tiphaine Robion, Julia Cöllen, Karsten Krause, Frank Scheuffele, and Jelena Angelovski.

The project was developed through a number of international programmes, including Torino Film Lab (Script Lab), When East Meets West (where it won the Film Centre of Serbia Development Award), EAVE, and CineLink Co-Production Market (where it won the ArteKino Award). The title was made with the support of the Croatian Audiovisual Centre, the French CNC, MOIN Filmförderung Hamburg Schleswig-Holstein, ARTE/Cofinova, the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, and the Creative Europe MEDIA sub-programme.

The Karlovy Vary International Film Festival opened on Thursday, 3 July. It is one of the oldest and most prestigious film festivals in Europe, and, as a FIAPF-accredited competitive feature film festival, ranks alongside the festivals in Cannes, Venice, Berlin, and Locarno. Two Croatian films and one minority co-production are screening across its various sections. The festival runs until 11 July.

Alongside Petty Thieves, the Croatian minority co-production 3 Weeks After, directed by Miroslav Terzić, is also screening at the festival. The film has been selected for the main Crystal Globe Competition and will be presented to audiences on Tuesday, 7 July.

The film’s producers are Snežana von Houwelingen and Branislav Trifunović, and it was realised by This and That Productions and Hit and Run Productions. Co-producers are Ines Vasiljević, Paul Thiltges, Adrien Chef, Kalin Kalinov, and Ankica Jurić Tilić, for co-producing companies Nightswim (Italy), Paul Thiltges Distributions (Luxembourg), Invictus (Bulgaria), and Kinorama (Croatia) respectively.

The film received financial support from the Film Center of Serbia, the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Serbia, the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Italy, the Film Fund Luxembourg, the Bulgarian Film Centre, the Croatian Audiovisual Centre (HAVC), and Creative Europe MEDIA sub-programme.

In addition, the short fiction film Shallow Ground, written and directed by Jozo Schmuch, has been selected for the Future Frames programme, which brings together ten recent graduates of European film schools. The film was produced by the Academy of Dramatic Art in Zagreb, with support from the Croatian Audiovisual Centre and the City of Vukovar. The film’s producer is Ana Martinović.

Cover photographs: world premiere of Petty Thieves at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival
(Photos: HAVC/Ivan Dovranić)