ZAGREB, 26 May 2022 - Ukrainian filmmaker Maksym Nakonechny and actors in his film "Butterfly Vision", including Ukrainian and Croatian actors, held a protest against social-media censorship of Russia's invasion, on Wednesday in Cannes before the premiere of this film.

The group covered their faces with content-warning signs and held a banner that read "Russians kill Ukrainians. Do you find it offensive and disturbing to talk about this genocide?”, while air raid sirens were played over the speaker system.

Among the protesting actors were Croatians Daria Lorenci Flatz and Edvin Liverić, who played roles in the film. The film is a Croatian minority co-production and is co-produced by Anita Juka (for 4Film), the Croatian Audiovisual Centre (HAVC) reported on Thursday.

Butterfly Vision, which premiered globally in Cannes, is "a harsh and surreal story about a Ukrainian woman named Lilia who, after spending months as a prisoner of war after the Donbas Conflict a few years ago, struggles to return to her life as a soldier and wife in her homeland, refusing to be labeled a victim." The script was co-written by Maksym Nakonechnyi and Iryna Tsilyk, says HAVC.

Lorenci Flatz was quoted as saying that she was happy to see that the film had won rounds of applause from a sympathetic audience in the Debussy theatre in Cannes.

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February 22, 2022 - The 18th edition of the ZagrebDox International Documentary Film Festival will take place from 3 to 10 April at the Kaptol Boutique Cinema, and will feature an unmatchable selection of documentaries that have been awarded at Cannes, Tribeca, Locarno, Sundance, IDFA and even nominated for the upcoming Oscars.

After two challenging years, temporary relocation to new dates, and new (old) spaces, ZagrebDox marks its coming of age in the spring term by returning to the Kaptol Boutique Cinema! With the belief that we are achieving signs of stability, as well as offering visitors the best conditions for watching the best current documentary stories from around the world, the ZagrebDox program resonates with events around us, reflecting everything that is happening in the world today.

The adult, 18th edition of ZagrebDox will be held from April 3 to 10 and offer the audience to step into numerous life stories, situations, relationships, and parts of the world in cinemas that are today, more than ever, less accessible and determined by numerous restrictions. With eighty film achievements, the audience will be able to question the meaning of divisions, borders, wars, individual responsibilities, crises as a consequence of the functioning of the system, but also the importance of contact, relationships, communication, coexistence, independence, individuality, and coping.

Director of ZagrebDox, Nenad Puhovski. (Photo: Marin Tironi/PIXSELL)

Thirty documentary film achievements will be featured in the international and regional competition of the ZagrebDox competition program, while other films are distributed in official programs such as Biographical Dox, Masters of Dox, Teen Dox, and the always popular programs Controversial Dox and State of Things.

The competition program brings many films recognized at festivals around the world: A Night of Knowing Nothing is a debut film by director Payal Kapadia that speaks through the form of letters about the forbidden love of two Indian students separated due to belonging to different castes. This hybrid of documentary and fiction through an intimate story sheds light on broader socio-political issues in today’s India, and at the Cannes Film Festival won the Golden Eye Award for Best Documentary.

Questioning the notion of the "Chinese dream" today and exploring capitalist hyperproduction and the paradox of progress, the film Ascension by American author Jessica Kingdon, an Oscar-nominated documentary and the best documentary of the Tribeca Film Festival, takes us to China. At the mentioned festival, the author was also awarded for the best documentary debutante.

The shocking multi-award-winning Swedish documentary Sabaya by director Hogir Hirori takes us to the most dangerous Islamic State (ISIS) camp in the Middle East, following a group of young men who risk their own lives to save girls trapped as sex slaves. This impressive film won about 15 awards, including the best documentary at the Sundance Film Festival, as well as at international film festivals in Moscow, Stockholm, Hong Kong, and DocAviv.

At ZagrebDox, we will also show the current winner of the Amsterdam International Documentary Film Festival (IDFA) in the Envision competition program - Lebanese author Karim Kassem's film Octopus, a metaphysical film study of the consequences of the explosion in the port of Beirut.

A new film by the renowned Polish author Paweł Łoziński, well-known to the festival, The Balcony Movie is also part of an international competition program. For two years, Łoziński used a camera to record neighbors, passers-by, and random visitors from his own balcony. The film won the Grand Prix in the Critics Week Award category at the Locarno International Film Festival.

The debut film Father by Chinese author Wei Deng, a portrait of two generations in the director’s family, depicts tradition, change, violence, and alienation in Chinese society. At the DOK Leipzig festival, he was awarded the Golden Dove.

In addition to the film program, ZagrebDox includes the ZagrebDox PRO platform dedicated to the education of film professionals, as well as a number of additional content in the form of special screenings, discussions, presentations, about which you can find more information on how to apply here.

Applications to volunteer at the 18th ZagrebDox are open until March 15 and you can find more information here.

More news about this year's ZagrebDox can be followed on the official website of the festival.

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July 17, 2021 - Excellent news, after the Croatian film ''Murina'', directed by Antoneta Alamat Kusijanović, won the prestigious Camera d'or award for the first film!

The 74th edition of the Cannes festival has come to an end, and today the winners of the various awards given by the most prestigious film festival in the world have been announced.

Among the winners is the Croatian film ''Murina'', directed by Antoneta Alamat Kusijanović in her debut feature film, and starring Gracija Filipović, her muse, and with whom she also previously worked on her short film '' Into the Blue ''. which participated in the Berlinale in 2017. Gracija was accompanied by a talented cast including the experienced Leon Lučev, Danica Ćurčić, and Cliff Curtis.

The film had been selected for the Quinzaine des Réalisateurs (also known as Director's Fortnight), an independent selection at the Cannes Film Festival that began in 1969 by the French Director's Guild, after the previous year's edition was canceled by the events. that happened in the country in May, as a show of solidarity to the workers who protested. The section offers a wide selection of films and documentaries from all around the world.

The Caméra d’or award for a first film goes to MURINA by Antoneta ALAMAT KUSIJANOVIĆ #Cannes2021 #Awards #CaméraDOr #MURINA pic.twitter.com/dXQNX5eCw4

— Festival de Cannes (@Festival_Cannes) July 17, 2021

The film had its official premiere at the Cannes Film Festival last week, and today it will make its official premiere in Croatia today at the Pula Film Festival.

The prestigious Camera d'or, is an award given to directors in their first film and who participate in one of the sections of the Cannes Festival. Today, the Cannes Film Festival announced the Croatian film "Murina" as the winner.

"Murina" is a drama that tells the story of Julija, a teenage girl who decides to replace her controlling father with her wealthy foreign friend during a weekend trip to the Adriatic islands. Indeed, among the different locations chosen by the talented director born in Dubrovnik are the island of Hvar and the Kornati islands. Learn more about Antoneta and her film "Murina" in this interview with Deadline magazine.

Congratulations to Antoneta, Gracija, and all the team behind the production of ''Murina''!

For everything you need to know about filming in Croatia, in your language, be sure to check Total Croatia's page.

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