The international jury comprised of Alik Shpilyuk (artistic director of the association Ukrainian Film Academy), Anna Kazejak (Polish director and screenwriter) and Maik Schöttke (Volkswagen Financial Services) decided to award the main festival prize, the Volkswagen Financial Services Award worth 10,000 euros, to The Uncle directed by duo Andrija Mardešić and David Kapac.

“It is the sort of film that captivates you in the first moments with its visual style, mood, and feeling. You are afraid you might miss something because the authors give you so much to discover. Christmas is usually a metaphor for hope, love, and peace, but not here. When you discover that the ‘typical family setting’ is anything but, you have already passed the point of no return on your way down the rabbit hole. The refreshing narration is combined with matching compositions. Many things are only blurred cues, so that a lot happens inside the viewer’s mind, but some moments are shown in their full intensity. The cast, the setting, and especially the camera with a surreal anamorphic look, are amazing – everything fits perfectly together,” said the statement of the jury, which also hailed Andrija Mardešić and David Kapac as “fresh, original, modern, and promising debutants”.

The Grand Prix at Braunschweig IFF is the thirteenth recognition for The Uncle, having already won the Young Talents Award at the Central and Eastern European Film Festival CinEast in Luxembourg, followed by awards at the Santiago Horror Film Festival in Chile, KineNova in North Macedonia, LIFFE – Leskovac International Festival of Film Directing and the Dunav Film Festival in Serbia, Montenegro Film Festival in Montenegro, as well as kicking off its festival run with a Proxima Jury Special Mention at Karlovy Vary IFF. It also took home two Golden Arena awards from the Pula Film Festival – for Best Script to Andrija Mardešić and David Kapac, and Best Costume Design to Ana Savić Gecan.

The Braunschweig International Film Festival is one of the oldest and largest festivals in the German province of Lower Saxony. It annually receives over 25,000 visitors, while the programme presents 110 feature-length and 160 short film titles from around the world. One of the trademarks of the festival is young European cinema – with ten debut or second feature films by European directors competing for the two main festival awards.

Besides The Uncle, the Braunschweig festival also presented the Croatian fiction short directed by Marko Dugonjić, A Moving Target, produced by company Eclectica (producer is Rea Rajčić).

The Uncle is a thriller with elements of absurd humour starring legendary Serbian actor Miki Manojlović, along with Ivana Roščić, Goran Bogdan and Roko Sikavica.

It is also an Eclectica production, in cooperation with Sense Production from Belgrade, with producers Ivan Kelava and Tomislav Vujić, as well as Milan Stojanović as the co-producer.

The film will continue its festival tour with a screening at the Rome Independent Film Festival, followed by the Exground Filmfest in Wiesbaden, the European Film Forum Scanorama in Lithuania, and landing at the Eastern Neighbours Film Festival in Amsterdam. 

The Uncle arrives in Croatian cinemas on 1st December.

Besides The Uncle, in the upcoming period, Croatian cinema audiences have a chance to see a total of nine Croatian feature films on the repertoire. On the occasion, the Croatian Audiovisual Centre has launched a campaign, Discover Our New Film, to help you get acquainted with all of these titles and encourage the audience to explore the richness of domestic production at the cinema. More information about the campaign is available HERE.

Cover photograph: Andrija Mardešić and David Kapac at the Braunschweig International Film Festival awards ceremony.