Animated film Imbued Life by Ivana Bošnjak and Thomas Johnson was produced by Vanja Andrijević from Bonobostudio, Zagreb, and since its premiere in Oberhausen, Germany, in May this year, it has won 11 awards at various international film festivals. Thomas Johnson and Ivana Bošnjak, in addition to being directors, wrote the script, designed, animated and made the puppets for the film. The film is about a young woman’s connection with the life force of nature. She uses her talent for taxidermy to “return” the animals to their natural habitat. 

In addition to Imbued Life, two Croatian minority co-productions are also in the international competition program: Toomas Beneath the Valley of the Wild Wolves and The Flood. 

Animated film Toomas Beneath the Valley of the Wild Wolves directed by Chintis Lundgren is an Estonian-Croatian-French co-production (Croatian producer is Draško Ivezić, Adriatic Animation). In addition to directing the film, Chintis Lundgren, also wrote the script together with Draško Ivezić. The film is about a hot wolf, Toomas, who, after losing his job, secretly starts working as a gigolo in order to support his family. But his wife Viivi has a secret of her own: she is attending a female empowerment seminar that involves flogging of male slaves. The film had its international premiere at this year’s edition of the Annecy Festival. 

The Flood is a short feature film by director and screenwriter Kristijan Krajnčan, made in Slovenian-Croatian co-production (Croatian producer Rea Rajčić, Eclectica). It is a story of a son trying to reconcile with his father on a solitary trip to their family mountain hut. Suddenly, the son realizes that something strange is going on – not only with his father, but with himself, too – and what began as an innocent trip will have to end with a decision that will lead him to discover a painful but liberating truth. The Flood had its world premiere at this year’s Thessaloniki International Film Festival as part of the Balkan Survey program. This year, in Clermont-Ferrand, it will be presented for the first time in international competition.  

Contemporaneously with the film festival in Clermont-Ferrand, a film market will take place, part of which is Euro Connection co-production forum which will feature a Croatian short documentary project 1001 Nights by director and scriptwriter Rea Rajčić and producer Tina Tišljar. The film follows 85-year old Ema and 80-year old Maja who have been spending every evening for the past five years in Ema’s apartment in Gripe, Split, faithfully watching Turkish soap operas and making the wittiest comments as a way of fighting their own sense of loneliness. The project has been supported by the Croatian Audiovisual Center. 

1001 Nights is one of 14 projects which will be presented in the forum and all forum participants will be able to take part in preparatory workshops, pitching sessions, presentations before professionals, networking events with potential co-producers and will have the opportunity to have one-on-one business meetings. The list of all selected projects can be found on this link.

The 42nd edition of the Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival will feature 163 titles in three competition programs, 80 of which in international competition. 9300 films from all over the world have applied for the festival. 

You can find more details about the festival on its official website.