Croatian Films at 50th Karlovy Vary Anniversary Edition
Four Croatian feature fiction films are screened at this year’s 50th edition of the prestigious Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, taking place 3-11 July. Next to Ivona Juka’s debut feature You Carry Me in the East of the West competition, the audience will also have a chance to see The Reaper by Zvonimir Jurić, These Are the Rules by Ognjen Sviličić, and The High Sun by Dalibor Matanić. The festival’s industry section is presenting three Croatian minority co-productions which were granted funding from HAVC.
Ivona Juka’s feature debut You Carry Me screens in the East of the West competition, which presents first and second films by talented directors from Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. The film was produced by 4Film and co-produced by the Slovenian Vertigo/Emotionfilm and the Serbian Sloan Film Productions, with the support of the Croatian Audiovisual Centre, Slovenian Film Centre, Eurimages, FS Viba Film, Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Serbia, Croatian Radiotelevision, City of Zagreb Tourist Board and City of Split. Following the national premiere, it was seen by over five thousand people and got excellent reviews, and the Karlovy Vary screening will be its international premiere.
The Reaper is included in the programme of ten films to the selection of Variety’s critics. These Are the Rules is selected for Another View section, along with other works providing a fresh and creative approach to film form and context. The High Sun is selected for the Horizons section, including pre-premieres of award-winning films from other festivals, prior to their wider release. Jurić’s The Reaper premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival, after which it made a successful festival tour and in Pula in 2014 it won three Golden Arenas (best leading and supporting male role and best cinematography) and the Oktavijan Award of the Croatian Film Critics’ Association for best film in the national selection. These Are the Rules premiered in the Horizons section of the Venice Film festival and Emir Hadžihafizbegović won the best actor award. Other successful festival appearances followed, as well as numerous prizes for the director and cast. In Karlovy Vary it came after a successful tour of festivals in Sydney and Curitiba, Brazil, where it got amazing reviews. Dalibor Matanić’s The High Sun was the first Croatian title in 34 years to be selected for Un Certain Regard of the Cannes Film Festival, where it won the jury award, and soon it will be released in Croatia and internationally.
Moreover, at a one-day presentation of new feature films from Central and Eastern Europe, Works in Progress, intended for international distributers, sales agents and festival programme coordinators, two Croatian minority co-productions will be presented, after being granted HAVC’s funding: Houston, We Have a Problem! by Žiga Virc, in co-production with the Croatian company Nukleus Film, and Rosa by Denijal Hasanović and in co-production with the Croatian company Focus Media. The Docu Talents from the East section presents the documentary film 4 Passports by Mihajlo Jevtić and in co-production with the Croatian company Fade In.
Karlovy Vary International Film Festival is one of the oldest and most prestigious European A-list film festivals, annually showing over 200 latest film titles. It accredits over 500 journalists from across the world and Croatian films are regularly found in the selection. In the last 15 years festival awards went to Marshall by Vinko Brešan (2000), Here by Zrinko Ogresta (2004), Armin by Ognjen Sviličić (2007), Will Not End Here by Vinko Brešan (2009), Just Between Us by Rajko Grlić (2010), and last year the best short documentary film award went to Autofocus by Boris Poljak.
Check out more information about this year’s anniversary edition on the official festival website.