Director Dubravka Turić, producer Ankica Jurić Tilić, actresses Marija Škaričić and Lana Barić, Lithuanian co-producer Ieva Norviliene and composer Jonas Jurkūnas attended the premiere in Warsaw. The Polish festival is held 14th – 23rd October, while Traces is competing alongside 14 other titles in the Competition 1-2.

“I awaited the premiere at the Warsaw Film Festival with great anticipation. After five years in the making, the film is finally seeing the light of day and it is a very important moment for me. The film was exceptionally well received and the first feedback is great”, said director Dubravka Turić after the premiere.

Producer Ankica Jurić Tilić shared her excitement: “I was happy to watch the film together with the audience and their response was very animated. I enjoyed feeling the pulse in the auditorium, because until now only the film’s team had seen it, and the premiere screening is always accompanied by a certain dose of anxiety. I am so glad that the film has been received so well.”

As the last member of a once multitudinous family, young scientist Ana (Marija Škaričić) faces an identity crisis. She buries herself in work, while her anthropological research increasingly intertwines with her sense of loss. In a series of coincidences, the symbols and traces in stone start to show her the way out of trauma.

Alongside Marija Škaričić, the cast is headed up by Nikša Butijer, Mate Bulin, Lana Barić and Tvrtko Jurić. Besides directing the film, Dubravka Turić co-wrote the script together with Danijel Žeželj, and she is also the film’s editor. Director of photography is Damjan Radovanović, production designer is Tajana Čanić Stanković, Željka Franulović designed the costumes, Snježana Gorup created the make-up, Jonas Jurkūnas composed the music, while Dubravka Premar created the sound design.

Dubravka Turić graduated from the Academy of Dramatic Arts in Zagreb and her debut short Belladonna won the Golden Lion for Best Short at the 2015 Venice International Film Festival in the Horizons section. Her second short, Cherries, premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in the Directors’ Fortnight (Quinazaine des realisateurs) section.

Alongside Kinorama as the principal producer, the film is a co-production with Lithuanian company Tremora and Corona from Serbia.

The project was developed at the MIDPOINT Feature Launch 2019 workshop and received development support from the Croatian Audiovisual Centre and Creative Europe through the MEDIA Slate Funding scheme, followed by support for production from the Lithuanian Film Centre, Film Center Serbia, Croatian Radiotelevision and Eurimages.

The Croatian premiere of Traces is scheduled for 26th October at the 20th Zagreb Film Festival, whereas its theatrical distribution is expected in January of 2023.

Traces is one of ten Croatian feature film titles arriving to the big screens in the following months. 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.

Photographs from the world premiere of Traces at the Warsaw FF are available for download on THIS link, courtesy of photographer Adrian Jaszczak.

In addition to Traces, the fiction short Boy, directed and written by Hrvoje Mabić, will also have its world premiere at the Warsaw Film Festival, while other competition programmes will include Juraj Lerotić’s award-winning Safe Place, as well as minority co-productions Maksym Nakonechnyi’s Butterfly Vision (co-producer is Anita Juka, 4Film), May Labour Day directed by Pjer Žalica (co-producers are Boris T. Matić and Lana Matić, Propeler Film) and Mother directed by Zornitsa Sophia (co-producer is Irena Marković, Focus Media).

The Warsaw Film Festival is the most important film festival in Poland and since 2009 holds the International Federation of Film Producers’ Associations (FIAPF) accreditation for its feature film competition, which puts it on a par with festivals the likes of Berlinale, Cannes, Venice, San Sebastián, Karlovy Vary and others.

Cover photographs: Traces world premiere at the Warsaw Film Festival (author of photographs: Adrian Jaszczak)