God Will Not Help from director and screenwriter Hana Jušić will have its world premiere in the main feature competition.

“I am incredibly happy and proud that this film will have its premiere precisely at the Locarno Film Festival. To me as a cinephile, this festival has always served as a signpost in the selection of films and a guarantee of courage and quality”, said the filmmaker on the occasion.

Set in the early 20th century, God Will Not Help follows Teresa, a Chilean woman who arrives in an isolated mountain community of shepherds living in the Dinara Mountains in Croatia, claiming to be the widow of the elder’s brother who died in a Chilean mine. Her arrival disrupts the dynamics between the members of the community bringing unrest, but also freedom.

In addition to Manuela Martelli, a renowned Chilean actress and director, the film also stars Ana Marija Veselčić, Filip Đurić, Mauro Ercegović Gracin, Nikša Butijer, Tina Orlandini, Ivan Skoko, Bogdan Farcaș and Vinko Kraljević.

The director of photography was Jana Plećaš, with Jan Klemsche as editor, and composers Stavros Evangelou, Iris Asimakopoulou and Vasilis Chontos. The sound design was done by Marius Leftărache, Laura Boni did the production design, Katarina Pilić created the costume design, while Mojca Gorogranc Petrushevska was the make-up artist.

God Will Not Help was realised as a Kinorama production, with producer Ankica Jurić Tilić. The co-producers were Ada Solomon and Diana Caravia, Ines Vasiljević and Stefano Sardo, Yorgos Tsourgiannis, Didar Domehri, Aleš Pavlin and Andrej Štritof, for co-production companies Nightswim (Italy), Micro Film (Romania), Horsefly Films (Greece), Maneki Films (France), Perfo Production (Slovenia) and ERT S.A. (Greece).

The film was also supported by the Croatian Audiovisual Centre, Eurimages, Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Italy (MIC), Romanian National Centre for Cinematography CNC, the Hellenic Film and Audiovisual Centre – Creative Greece, Filming in Croatia, European Union – NextGenerationEU, French National Centre for Cinematography and Moving Images CNC – Aide aux cinémas du monde, Slovenian Film Centre, Viba Film, HRT and programme RE-ACT.

God Will Not Help is Hana Jušić’s sophomore feature, after debuting with Quit Staring at My Plate, which had its world premiere in Venice in the Venice Days programme in 2016, and subsequently screened at close to a hundred festivals, receiving more than 30 awards and recognitions.

Desire Lines, directed by Dane Komljen, who co-wrote the script with Tanja Šljivar, will also premiere in the main programme, Concorso Internazionale.

It centres on Branko, night after night obsessively following his brother through the neon-lit streets of Belgrade, trying to fathom his unusual behaviour. In the course of this journey, Branko realises that he is in fact the strange one – the observer, the ghost. Branko keeps walking, leaving the city behind, traversing landscapes and borders on his way to a very special place where everything and everyone has their own story to tell.

The cast is headed up by Ivan Čuić, Branka Katić, Petja Golec Horvat and Rok Juričić. Ivan Marković and Jenny Lou Ziegel created the cinematography. Desire Lines was produced by Nataša Damnjanović and Vladimir Vidić (Dart Film), alongside co-producers Miljenka Čogelja (Pipser), Dane Komljen and Armin Hadžić (Mak Film, Marletti) and Zsuzsanna Kiraly (Flaneur Films).

The feature was made with the support of, among others, MEDIA sub-programme, Film Center Serbia, Croatian Audiovisual Centre, Eurimages, Dutch Film Fund, Audio-Visual Center of the Republic of Srpska, Ministry of Culture and Sports of the Sarajevo Canton, Medienboard Berlin Brandenburg.

Earlier this month, we presented the titles to screen in the Pardi di Domani section, spanning three competition programmes featuring short and medium-length films by established and up-and-coming filmmakers from all over the world. As many as 40 films will have world premieres in this section, including three Croatian titles, one of which is a minority co-production. 

Director and screenwriter David Gašo’s short Peninsula (production ADU) will have its world premiere as part of the International Competition, while the same programme will also premiere the documentary short Goats!, directed by Tonći Gaćina (KOMPOT). Screening in the Concorso Corti d'Autore competition will be Hysterical Fit of Laughter, a feature from creative duo Matija Gluščević and Dušan Zorić, created in co-production with Croatian company Dinaridi Film, for which this will be the world premiere as well.

Founded in 1946 in the Swiss city of Locarno, the Locarno Film Festival is one of the oldest and most prestigious European film festivals. Dedicated to discovering new authorial voices and trends in the world of cinema and spanning 11 festival days, it will showcase more than 300 titles organised into 11 sections. It is also known for its screenings in the city’s central square, Piazza Grande, which turns into Europe’s largest open-air cinema with around 8,000 seats during the festival. Find out more about the festival on its official website.

Cover photographs show a scene from God Will Not Help; Desire Lines