The Real Truth about the Fight has won a Special Jury Award for Best International Short, with the attached cash prize of a thousand US dollars.   

The film was screening in the thematic programme Live & Learn showcasing films ‘shorts set in classrooms, hallways, and young minds that prove what a difficult, worthy process it is to have lessons learned’.

Andrea Slaviček penned the script and directed the film. The titular character is played by young actress Vida Tunguz, while the rest of the cast is made up by Ana Ugrina, Lucija Plesac, Lily Antić, Lola Jelčić, Nedim Hasanbegović, Adrian Babić Herceg and Pan Jelić. Director of photography is Alana Mejía González, Vladimir Gojun edited the film, alongside production designer Bojan Drezgić, costume designer Ana Nikačević, makeup artist Natalija Škrlec, sound designer Borja Barrera Allué, and score composer Biel Blancafort.

The Real Truth about the Fight is produced by Croatian company Antitalent, in co-production with house Spanish Fractal and Croatian company Blank. The film’s producer is Katarina Prpić, with co-producer Marc Guanyabens. The film has been supported by the Croatian Audiovisual Centre and the City of Zagreb. 

The film had its world premiere at the Cannes Critics’ Week (Semaine de la Critique), after which it travelled the world screening at a total of 40 film festivals.

The Palm Springs International ShortFest is one of the largest showcases of short-form cinema in North America and its award-winning titles directly qualify for nominations for the Oscars of the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the BAFTA Awards of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts, and the Goyas of the Spanish Academy of Cinematographic Arts and Sciences.

This year, ShortFest received over 6,300 submissions from 130 countries, while the official programme featured 310 titles from 63 countries, divided into 52 thematically curated units.