The Man Who Could Not Remain Silent, the first Croatian short to win the prestigious Palme d'Or in Cannes, was one of the five titles nominated for the European Film Award, awarded annually by the European Film Academy. The list of nominated shorts can be found at this link.

“I’m thrilled! I didn’t believe we could win two major awards in one year. However, this award is special because it’s a recognition from the profession. I am very happy that European voters have recognised and awarded a film about a man whose humanity and solidarity came before his nationality or religion. I think that this is not only a commendation for our film, but a reflection of the times we live in”, said director Nebojša Slijepčević.

“We are glad about another great award for our short fiction film, proud of Nebojša, Goran Bogdan and the entire film crew, and grateful to the co-producers, film funds, especially to the Croatian Audiovisual Centre for their support, and to the European Film Academy. After the Palme d'Or, The Man Who Could Not Remain Silent was seen by tens of thousands of people in Croatia and the world; we want this award to help the film reach more audiences”, said the producers Katarina Prpić and Danijel Pek.

“This is a huge achievement! Congratulations from the bottom of our hearts to director Nebojša Slijepčević, the production company Antitalent, their production partners, and the entire crew of the film The Man Who Could Not Remain Silent on this historic success! Winning both the Cannes Palme d'Or and the European Film Award is an exceptional accomplishment and means a lot to the authors, as well as for the entire film community, but also for Croatian culture at large. We hope the film will continue its enviable string of festival successes, and we also wish it success in the running for a nomination for an American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Award”, said Croatian Audiovisual Centre CEO, Chris Marcich.

Two other Croatian titles were shortlisted for a European Film Award nomination: the experimental documentary Valerija directed by Sara Jurinčić (Restart) and the experimental documentary I Would Rather Be a Stone of director and producer Ana Hušman. In addition, the Croatian-Portuguese co-production, That’s How I Love You, directed by Mário Macedo (Plan 9), was also in the running for a nomination.

The European Short Film – Prix Vimeo category is organised by the European Film Academy, in cooperation with a series of film festivals across Europe. At each of the qualifying festivals, an independent jury chooses one of the European short films in festival competition to be a contender for a nomination, while the long list consisted of 28 contenders. The participating festivals in the end nominate five films, while the members of the European Film Academy vote on the winner.

The European Film Awards ceremony took place on 7th December in the Swiss city of Lucerne.

The Croatian short, Picnic, directed by Jure Pavlović (Sekvenca), won the so-called European Oscar in 2015, in the same category, and one year earlier this award went to the Croatian minority co-production, The Chicken, directed by Una Gunjak (Nukleus Film). In addition, Croatian actor Zlatko Burić won the award for Best European Actor in 2022, for his role in Ruben Östlund’s Triangle of Sadness.

The Man Who Could Not Remain Silent also qualified for an Oscar nomination, thanks to receiving the Palme d'Or in Cannes, the Grand Prix at the Melbourne International Film Festival, as well as being selected for the Manhattan Short Film Festival. In addition, the short is also on the list of selected titles in the running for a César Award nomination awarded by the Académie des César – the French Academy of Cinema Arts and Techniques.

The Man has to date screened at more than 80 festivals around the world, including the Toronto Film Festival, Manhattan Short, PÖFF Shorts in Tallinn, the Stockholm Film Festival, the Festival du Nouveau Cinéma, and many others. In addition to wonderful reception from international film critics, it scooped up numerous awards at many of the above festivals, such as the Grand Prix at the Melbourne International Film Festival, Audience Award at the Kurzfilmtage Winterthur International Festival, Best Film Award at the Euro-Balkan Film Festival in Rome, Best Actor (Goran Bogdan) at the Sulmona Film Festival (SIFF), Best Cinematography (Gregor Božič) at the Bucharest Short Film Festival, and many others.

The film was produced by the company Antitalent, with producers Katarina Prpić and Danijel Pek, and co-producers Katya Trichkova (Contrast Films, Bulgaria) and Noëlle Lévénez (Les Films Norfolk, France), as well as Boštjan Virc (Studio Virc, Slovenia).