Tuesday, 14 June 2022

Murina Was Seen by 50,000 Spectators in France, Going to US Cinemas

June 14, 2022 - Murina has been seen by more than 50,000 people in cinemas across France so far, and distribution of the film will start in July in the United States, confirming the quality and interest of this film, which won at prestigious Cannes Film Festival last year.

In the regular distribution period in French cinemas, which began on April 20, Antoneta Alamat Kusijanović's "Murina" has so far been seen by 50,133 viewers and has been shown in 94 cinemas, reports Dubrovački vjesnik. Murina will be in US cinemas from the beginning of July, and so far it has been arranged to be shown in cinemas in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Spain, Portugal, New Zealand, Australia, Mexico, Germany, Sweden, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and many other countries.

The film Murina is the feature-length debut of director Antoneta Alamat Kusijanović and was executive produced by legendary filmmaker Martin Scorsese. The film premiered last year at the Cannes Film Festival where it was awarded the Golden Camera (Camera d'Or) which is awarded to the best debut film in all festival programs. This award is one of the greatest successes of Croatian film abroad, and Murina continues to be a success and attract audiences to cinemas.

To date, the film has been screened at more than 60 festivals and won 23 awards. In addition to the prestigious Cannes, there is also the award for best film in the Hamptons, as well as the Femme Du Cinema award in Les Arcs in France presented to Antoneta Alamat Kusijanović as the most promising director of the year. On June 19, at the ceremony in Zagreb, Antoneta Alamat Kusijanović will be presented with the annual "Vladimir Nazor" award given by the Ministry of Culture and Media for the best artistic achievements.

The film "Murina" is a story about the tense relationship between sixteen-year-old Julia and her authoritarian father Ante, which starts worsening when an old family friend arrives at their home on the island. While his father is preoccupied with trying to make a living with him, the charismatic guest opens more and more space for Julia and arouses her revolt against her parents. During a weekend filled with high expectations, Julia drags her family into a dangerous whirlwind of passion and violence.

The main roles are played by young actresses Gracija Filipović, Leon Lučev, Danica Ćurčić, and Cliff Curtis. The screenplay is by director Antoneta Alamat Kusijanović and co-written with Frank Graziano. The producers of the film are Danijel Pek (Antitalent) and Rodrigo Teixeira (RT Features), and the co-producers are Zdenka Gold (Spiritus Movens), Jožko Rutar (SPOK Films) and Miha Černec (Staragara).

Director Antoneta Alamat Kusijanović was born in Dubrovnik. She completed her studies at the Academy of Dramatic Arts in Zagreb and then directed at Columbia University in the USA. For her short film Into the Blue, she won awards in Berlin and the Heart of Sarajevo, and the film was nominated for a Student Oscar.

For more, check out our lifestyle section.

Saturday, 21 May 2022

Rajko Grlić: How I Shot Some of the Most Famous Love Scenes of Croatian Film

May 21, 2022 - The renowned Croatian director Rajko Grlić writes in detail the secrets behind the camera of the remembered love scenes in his films ''You Love Only Once'' (1981) and ''The Border Post'' (2006).

Rajko Grlić writes for Telegram.hr

In the small inside pocket of a velvet jacket, I found a note that tries to answer the question I am most often asked: "How are love scenes filmed?"

"Love scenes", which is a euphemism for those sweet-simple things that are not talked about out loud in good families, are not recorded easily or quickly. Moreover, these recordings are not overly pleasant for the actors or the team, not to mention the director. Above them, especially at the beginning, there is always some tension, discomfort. And while they are there, it is difficult to record a scene that smells a bit of life.

''You Love Only Once'' (''Samo jednom se ljubi'') was a film that tried to say that the touch of the skin is stronger than all ideologies, so "love scenes", as evidence of this thesis, are represented in it in impressive numbers.

A recording call that changed everything

For a long time, a few months before the filming, I started talking to Vladislava Milosavljević and Predrag Manojlović about what we were going to do and how. She was insecure, reserved, and he was brave. I remember how amused he was by her timidity, how he annoyed her with stories that close-ups would be filmed afterward with professional porn actors.

To keep the discomfort to a minimum, we organized a recording of these scenes over the course of a week. Another mitigating circumstance was that we did them in the studio so that Pico Pinter could make a general light and still work with very small corrections. In short, we were both fast and isolated. In addition, we fulfilled Vladica's wish that only those who really had to be there, should be around the camera.

You-Love-Only-Once_Rajko_Grlic_07_b.jpg

''You Love Only Once'' (Image: www.rajkogrlic.com)

The first day of filming did not bring us good material. The second day was a little, not much, better. On the third day, just when we started, the assistant producer came requesting for Vladica to answer the phone because her mother needed her urgently. Vladica jumped out of bed and ran to the door that leads from the studio to the hallway where there are wardrobes, make-up artists, and production. She returned after a few minutes saying there was nothing urgent.

Love scenes have to move the story forward

She didn't even notice that she left and came back completely naked. We watched her and started laughing. She understood why we were laughing, spread her arms, and shrugged with laughter. Shyness, fear, discomfort, and everything that hovered above us suddenly disappeared. The third day was more than successful.

In that filming, I learned that the first day of filming such scenes, sometimes even days, can be calmly, and in advance, considered lost. That the actresses in the rehearsals are full of fear and apprehension, while the actors in that phase are strikingly brave. On the set itself, things sometimes turn around. They are much braver here and once they relax they work great. Actors, unlike actresses, very often lose their courage at that very moment, become timider, have too many questions.

I learned something else, perhaps most important: that these scenes have their place in the composition of the film, that, as critics would say, they are justified only when they are ambiguous, when in them, besides touching the skin, we can read something more, something that enriches those faces, something that moves the story forward.

Detailed rehearsals of Verica and Tony at the hotel

We filmed ''The Border Post'' (''Karaula'') many years later in similar conditions. We filmed all the love scenes in the studio, an abandoned depot in Ohrid where we built her apartment. It was then that I realized that what I learned by doing ''You Love Only Once'' is not always the rule. That the material on the first day of filming love scenes can be thrown away peacefully was repeated here. But the fact that he is braver in the rehearsals and she is more frightened that it would be the other way around on the set, did not happen here.

karaula_film_13.jpg

Toni Gojanović and Verica Nedeska in ''The Border Post''. (Image: www.karaulafilm.com)

Verica Nedeska was braver in the preparations and on the set than Toni Gojanović, for whom, unlike her, it was his first film and he had no experience, not only with such scenes, but with filming in general.

During the rehearsals, Verica felt a little uneasy with Tony, and one day she came up with a suggestion that we should take a room in the hotel where we are staying, that she and Tony should take off their clothes, go to bed and I would explain to them, scene by scene, what they will do, where the camera will be, what will be seen and what will not.

How his whole life leaked out of the scene

A make-up artist was standing next to me in the hotel room, knowing what awaited her, and I was slowly explaining to Verica and Toni what, where and how I intended to film it. We went through movement after movement, scene after scene, seeing what was possible, what wasn’t, and most importantly: how they feel about it. After that rehearsal, we were sure we knew exactly what we were going to do and how we were going to do it.

But despite that, the first day of filming did not bring us anything good. When we got back to the hotel, I spent hours looking at that material and thinking about where the mistake was. And it lay in the fact that we all knew everything, that the scene became mechanical and that life flowed out of it and with it the most important thing: eros.

For the next day, I prepared small and slightly bigger surprises, talked to her alone and separately, gave them small tasks that the other person didn't know about, and the shooting went surprisingly smoothly.

'Bata' Živojinović in tiger shorts

It’s a whole other story when those scenes are done in a comedy. It is then a difficult, perhaps the most difficult "love-stage" discipline. So, in ''In the Jaws of Life'', I had with me the experienced 'Bata' Živojinović, a hero of partisan films who walks around in tiger shorts and for whom this was perhaps the first love scene in more than three hundred films he made, while opposite him was Vitomira Lončar, on her first film, covered only with a transparent veil of a wedding dress.

But that is a long story from another pocket that I wouldn't take out now. What my father, who apropos of "love scenes" used to complain about me calling him to premieres, not rehearsals, used to say: "Play, play, and hit the belt."

For more, check out our lifestyle section.

Thursday, 19 May 2022

Latest Film by Director Stanka Gjurić Selected at CIFF in Dhaka, Bangladesh

May 19, 2022 - The latest film by writer and filmmaker Stanka Gjurić, "Son of a Prophetess", is now part of the official selection of the prestigious Cinemaking International Film Festival in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

The latest film by writer and filmmaker Stanka Gjurić, "Son of a Prophetess", with award-winning classical guitarist Srđan Bulat and poetess Ivanka Blažević Kiš in the lead roles, has entered the official selection of the prestigious Cinemaking International Film Festival in Dhaka, Bangladesh, which will take place in November 2022.

The short thriller-drama film was shot in Croatia and follows a young man who arrives from a trip, expecting his mother who is a prophet by occupation, to bring him the dog that she was taking care of during that time.

-poster-vracarin-sin.jpg

Stanka Gjurić is a poet, essayist, actress, columnist, and filmmaker from Croatia. She was born in Čakovec, but today she lives in Zagreb. She has published 20 books and received numerous literary awards for her poetry. Stanka is a member of Croatian Independent Artists and the Croatian Academy of Science and Art in Diaspora (Basel, Switzerland). With her first short film 'Ubojite misli' (Battle Thoughts) she gained international recognition.

‘CIFF’ is one of the most important international film festivals in South Asia based in Bangladesh. It is organized with the support of DHAKA Festival and the largest film distribution and co-production company in South Asia, Cinemaking24.com. ‘Cinemaking’ is an international distribution and co-production company that seeks to promote film globally.

sluzbena-selekcija-filma2022.png

The last edition of the Cinemaking International Film Festival 2021 was a competition of 600 films from 121 countries, selected in a competition of thousands of films submitted to the competition. The festival was held in several places, such as the International Mother Language Institute, then in the main national cultural center, the famous ‘Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy’, and in the equally famous ‘Shahojpath’ school in Dhaka.

Croatian filmmaker Stanka Gjurić has presented her films all around the world: France, Italy, Greece, Portugal, Spain, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Switzerland, Slovenia, Egypt, Canada, Serbia, USA, South Africa, Argentina, India, Russia, Austria, Brazil, Great Britain, etc. With her short films, to date, Gjurić has won 15 international awards.

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

For more, check out our lifestyle section.

Sunday, 23 January 2022

Series "The Silence" by Dalibor Matanić Part of Berlinale Series Market Selects

ZAGREB, 23 Jan 2022 - Dalibor Matanić's new TV series "The Silence" (Šutnja), based on a trilogy by investigative journalist Drago Hedl, has been listed among 14 television series of the Berlinale Series Market Selects at this year's Berlin International Film Festival.

The Berlinale Series Market Selects is part of the European Film Market. It is dedicated to TV series and offers industry experts, right holders, buyers, and creatives a platform for discussing current developments in the world of series.

The programme will take place online, in parallel with the European Film Market, also taking place online, from 10 to 17 February. The event will include talk shows, showcases by international production companies, streaming platform and series events, online screenings, and a curated selection of high-quality series on the market, the Croatian Audiovisual Centre (HAVC) said.

Among the 14 selected projects, there are also series from Brazil, South Africa, and Israel.

The producer and one of the creators of the series, Nebojša Taraba, said that entering that market was a huge personal success, but they were even happier that this confirmed the international success of Croatian drama series such as "The Paper" (Novine), "Success" (Uspjeh), "The Last Socialist Artefact" (Područje bez signala), were no longer an exception but becoming a rule.

"Croatian television productions are not only the most successful in the Adria region but beyond, I dare say in Central and Southeast Europe," he said.

The eighth edition of the Berlinale Series Market (BSM) will take place from 14 to 16 February with an exceptionally international and diverse selection of series, according to European Film Market according to director Dennis Ruh.

"The Silence" is a six-part TV series based on Hedl's trilogy, which is described as a combination of police procedural novels and political thrillers.

The series will start broadcasting on Croatian Radio Television (HRT) on 7 March. It is produced by Drugi Plan and HRT and co-produced by Beta Film, Star Media, and OLL.TV, ZDF/ARTE. Series creators are Nebojša Taraba and Miodrag Sila (Drugi Plan), with the screenplay written by Marjan Alčevski. The series also stars Kseniya Mishina, Goran Bogdan and Darko Milas.

Congratulations Dalibor, and all the team behind the production of "The Silence"!

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

For more made in Croatia news, follow TCN's dedicated page.

Sunday, 16 January 2022

Gracija Filipović Among Europe’s 10 Biggest Acting Hopefuls

January 16, 2022 - Croatian actress Gracija Filipović, who made her leading role debut in Antoneta Alamat Kusijanović's feature film Murina, has been included in the European Shooting Stars programme of this year's Berlin International Film Festival.

"We are impressed by her intuitive and original acting, which she performs with a level of maturity surprising for her age," the jury said in their decision to include the Croatian actress in the European Shooting Stars programme, according to the Croatian Audiovisual Centre (HAVC). 

Every year the European Shooting Stars programme presents the best new European acting talents during the Berlinale.

Thanks to the numerous awards to Murina, the most notable being the Golden Camera in Cannes, Gracija’s collaboration with Antoneta brought her international visibility and recognition, which ultimately contributed to her inclusion in this prestigious Berlinale programme, HAVC said.

Apart from acting, Gracija Filipović is also a professional swimmer and step dancer. She is studying biology in Zagreb.

Filipović is the fourth Croatian actress to be admitted to the European Shooting Stars programme after Zrinka Cvitešić (2010), Marija Škaričić (2011) and Tihana Lazović (2016).

The 25th edition of the European Shooting Stars programme, featuring seven actresses and three actors, will be held in hybrid form during the first weekend of the 72nd Berlinale, from 11 to 14 February. The award ceremony will take place on the last day when awards will be presented to all programme participants.

Thursday, 6 January 2022

Legendary filmmaker, Croatian American Peter Bogdanovich dies aged 82

January 6, 2022 – Oscar-nominated film director and writer, the legendary Croatian American Peter Bogdanovich, has died aged 82. Conceived in Zagreb, he grew up in New York where he had an illustrious five-decade career that included hit movies like The Last Picture Show, Paper Moon and She's Funny That Way.

Peter_Bogdanovich_1.jpgCroatian American Peter Bogdanovich at the Castro Theatre in San Francisco in 2008, by Eliaws

Although he was conceived in Zagreb, it was perhaps natural that Croatian American Peter Bogdanovich should Americanise his name. His parents left the Croatian capital before their son was even born. Peter would grow up in New York, where he absorbed the culture and climate of the world-famous metropolis. In particular, he fell in love with its cinema.

As a young man, Bogdanovich was obsessed with movies. Early on, he scored a job as a film critic which allowed him to immerse himself in the world of movies. Within this era, he struck up a lifelong friendship with Orson Welles. Bogdanovich famously regarded Welles' Citizen Kane as the peak of cinema. Also at this time, Bogdanovich was given his first break as a film director by famous producer Roger Corman.

orson.jpgOrson Welles (left) and Peter Bogdanovich (right)

The 1960s saw a revolution in the world of American cinema. Tired old formats such as historical epics and musicals were being swept aside. In their place arrived films by a fresh crop of restless, modern directors. For the most part, they were influenced by the much more radical and real European new wave cinema. Their films appealed to young audiences with gritty realism, unflinching violence and extreme flights of fancy.

Among these new American filmmakers you can find the now-classic names of Martin Scorcese, Woody Allen, Robert Altman, John Boorman, David Lynch, Terrence Malick, Francis Ford Coppola, Sam Peckinpah, Ridley Scott, Steven Spielberg, James Cameron, John Carpenter, Brian De Palma and Stanley Kubrick. Croatian American Peter Bogdanovich was definitely among them.

He started his career as a director by making a documentary about John Ford, the pre-eminent director of western movies. It is to Croatian American Peter Bogdanovich's enduring credit that this documentary remains one of the greatest examinations of Ford and his work.

Classics of legendary filmmaker, Croatian American Peter Bogdanovich

last-picture-show-01.jpgThe Last Picture Show, with Jeff Bridges and Cybill Shepherd

From there, Bogdanovich jumped to making his first proper film, 'The Last Picture Show'. Featuring Jeff Bridges, Cybill Shepherd and Cloris Leachmant, it was released in 1971. Universally acclaimed, the coming-of-age drama is as classic as Americana comes. It features a fine Hank Williams soundtrack and was the first lead-starring role of future great Bridges. This one film alone ensured Bogdanovich's name would forever be associated with cinema's exciting, new American movement.

Barbra Streisand and Ryan O'Neal starred in Bogdanovich's second film, the romantic comedy 'What's Up, Doc?' He reunited with Ryan O'Neal in 1973 for the film 'Paper Moon'. O'Neal’s daughter, Tatum, won an Oscar for best supporting actress with this film. After several immediate hits, Bogdanovich felt he could afford to be choosey about his next projects. He turned down The Godfather, The Exorcist and Chinatown.

mask-1985-4.jpgSet shot from classic 1985 emotional drama Mask, with Cher (centre) and Bogdanovich (right)

His later films included the classic emotional drama 'Mask', starring Cher, and 'The Cat’s Meow', starring Kirsten Dunst. A legend among the next generation of filmmakers, Bogdanovich appeared as an actor in cameo roles for cult director Quentin Tarantino and in The Sopranos series.

b7c1bc2a82c527d2e006570fd1e7eb6f.pngCroatian American Peter Bogdanovich plays Dr. Elliot Kupferberg in Episode 4, Season 3 of The Sopranos

In 2010, he joined the faculty of the University of North Carolina School of the Arts and in 2014 made his last feature film, the comedy 'She’s Funny That Way' starring Jennifer Aniston and Owen Wilson. In 2018, he released his final film, a documentary about Buster Keaton - 'The Great Buster: A Celebration'.

Peter Bogdanovich is survived by his two children Antonia and Alexandra (Sashy), his sister Anna Bogdanovich and three grandchildren.

To read more about Croatian filmmaking and movies, look here

Tuesday, 28 September 2021

Zagreb Subversive Festival 2021: Progressive Films and Discussions in October

September 28, 2021 - The Zagreb Subversive Festival 2021 will present movies and discussions on alternative, progressive solutions to burning global issues throughout October.

After the iconic Kino Europa (Europa Cinema) in Zagreb's centre closed down (despite huge support for it to remain, as well as protests), many cultural festivals that called the venue their home weren't sure where they would continue their cultural programmes.

However, many programmes successfully moved on, and the Zagreb Subversive Festival is no exception. The 14th edition of this progressive culture event is making a return to Zagreb and will last from October 3-23.

The Tuškanac Cinema, the Cultural Informative Centre (KIC), the Prosvjeta Serbian Cultural Centre (SKD Prosvjeta), and the Miroslav Krleža Institute of Lexicography joined forces to host the programme. Additionally, the online Volimdokumentarce.net (Ilovedocumentaries.net) programme will live stream online for those unable to attend the events in person.

''The Zagreb Subversive Festival 2021 is a multi-disciplinary platform inside which political theory and film join forces to shake up the status quo, identify the aesthetic of resistance and nurture a more radical approach to film, theory, and practice. We're interested in the potential transformation of our neoliberal daily lives, and the role art and culture could play in this endeavour,'' writes the official website of the Subversive Film Festival.

The festival began back in 2008, marking the 40th anniversary of 1968 global protests, and since then, it has evolved into one of the most important progressive festivals in the region. The festival is split into two sections: The Subversive Film Festival and the Subversive Forum.

The film part showcases movies that deal with topics of social injustice, social change, women's and minority rights, LGBTQ+, student and workers' issues and movements, as well as post-colonial heritage. The screenings also have a competitive nature due to the ''Wild Dreamer'' Award for the best feature, documentary, and short film categories.

The Subversive Forum portion of the festival holds conferences that present ''tools for the deconstruction of the offered normalised story about the world'', as well as the articulation of a possible alternative reality and its foundation.

Noted international movie directors, philosophers, social scientists, and activists such as Oliver Stone, Toni Negri, Slavoj Žižek, Michael Hardt, and many others have attended and participated in the Zagreb Subversive Festival over the years.

The 14th edition has a central topic, ''A Post-COVID Democracy: The Ethics of Fight and Solidarity Poetics'' and thirty movie titles are confirmed for the programme, which will be filled with exhibitions, lectures, and discussions that will stretch throughout the month of October.

Learn more about Zagreb in our TC guide

For more about culture in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page.

Tuesday, 24 August 2021

Vukovar Film Festival Includes 40 Excellent Films in This Year's Edition

August 24, 2021 - The Vukovar Film Festival will start tomorrow in its fifteenth edition and highlights a program full of must-see films and documentaries.

As reported by Večernji list, this year's 15th Vukovar Film Festival from August 25th to 29th brings a total of 41 film screenings with five documentaries, which will be shown at several locations in the city.

The artistic director of the festival, Dean Sinovčić, said at the press conference that the Vukovar festival is best known for its program, according to which no festival in Croatia "can compete" with it.

vukovar-film-festival-2_1.jpg

Vukovar Film Festival Official Facebook Page

He stated that a dozen films from the festival program are classic comedies to get people back in a good mood and that five films from the recently concluded Cannes Film Festival and several films from the Berlin and Venice festivals will be screened.

''Thus, we keep the quality that the Vukovar festival has offered in all previous years'', Sinovčić pointed out.

Festival director and executive director of Discovery film Igor Rakonić said that the festival opens with the film "Blue Flower", directed by Zrinko Ogresta, as the winner of this year's Pula Film Festival. He added that due to the announced cooling in the coming days, the screenings of films scheduled for screening on the terrace of the Agency for Waterways and the park of Eltz Castle will be moved to Hrvatski dom and Cinestar.

''The idea of ​​this year's festival is to stay strong in film, we hope that next year the pandemic will pass and that we will start living normally'', he added.

Regarding the implementation of epidemiological measures, Rakonić said that epidemiological measures would be respected at the festival, with a reduced number of spectators, but that vaccinated persons would certainly not be separated from unvaccinated ones.

Vukovar Mayor Ivan Penava expressed satisfaction that the festival has maintained continuity, as well as because this year's, unlike last year's, which was held in a closing atmosphere, is now returning to a more normal atmosphere.

Considering that this year's festival is being held in the conditions of a pandemic, the organizers point out that this year there will be no usual awards ceremony, as well as accompanying entertainment and music activities.

They note that this does not apply to the traditional festival workshops that will be held, namely the Danube screenwriting workshop, the one-minute film workshop in one frame and the film workshop "From idea to realization".

The organizers of the Vukovar Film Festival are the company Discovery film, the City of Vukovar, and the Hrvatski Dom Vukovar.

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

For more on lifestyle, follow TCN's dedicated page.

Saturday, 17 July 2021

Croatian Film ''Murina'' Wins Caméra d'or Award At Festival de Cannes!

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 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.

For more made in Croatia news, follow TCN's dedicated page.

Saturday, 3 July 2021

Saul Tikvić from Vinkovci is the Moja.hr Film Competition Winner

July 3, 2021 - In sixty seconds, participants had to visually express why the county or the place where they live has grown close to their hearts. After reviewing all 21 videos, the jury decided on the Vukovar-Srijem team, led by director Saul Tikvić, as the winners.

Vinkovci's Saul Tikvić is the winner of the final of the Moja.hr project, a competition for the best one-minute film about the county or place where the author lives, reports Turističke priče. It is a project of Večernji list in which the Croatian Radio and Television was a partner, and it was supported by the Ministry of Tourism and Sports and the Croatian Tourist Board. The young team, which included Davorin Kresic, Dunja Šaran, and Dario Hegeduš, along with Tikvić as the host, made a winning film about Vukovar-Srijem County. The award was presented to them at a ceremony held on Thursday night by the Minister of Tourism and Sports Nikolina Brnjac.

''We did not expect the award, because the competition was really high quality. After announcing third and second place we thought we had no chance of being first, but then came a surprise for all of us on the team. We couldn't believe how we shot the best video in the country'', Tikvić shared his impressions from the awards ceremony.

According to the director of the Vukovar-Srijem County Tourist Board, Rujana Bušić Srpak, the beautiful images of Vukovar-Srijem County, together with the music and narrative of Dunja Šuran, who appears in the video, send a correct and positive image, and the experience of young people living here give extra importance to the whole project.

''We made our first contact with Saul Tikvić last year when we organized a photo workshop, in which he also participated. For the Moja.hr project, we formed a team that worked completely on a voluntary basis, and we as the tourist board were the coordinators, that is, we helped and gave support to these young people. Ultimately, the film is entirely their own work, because we didn’t want to interfere with the script. This success is an excellent promotion for our county, which will host the awards ceremony next year, which will further promote Vukovar-Srijem County'', said Srpak.

The Moja.hr project aims to encourage young people to show the beauty, creativity, and emotion of the county in which they live. In sixty seconds, the authors had to say why the county or the place where they live has grown close to their hearts, why they love living there, and express their personality and creativity in these answers. After reviewing all 21 videos, the jury decided on the Vukovar-Srijem team as the winners.

''The shooting of the film lasted about a month at locations throughout the Vukovar-Srijem County. We changed the script several times, but in the end, we were satisfied with what we did. The award means a lot to me because I decided to dedicate myself completely to photography, filming, and editing. Namely, a few hours before receiving the award, I resigned from my job, because photos and videos are my love, to which I want to dedicate more time, and I intend to do videos and commercials. The award will certainly help me achieve that goal'', director Saul Tikvić points out.

For winning first place, Tikvić was awarded a cash prize in the amount of HRK 15,000, a tablet, and an annual e-subscription to Večernji list. The money will be shared with the whole team, and one part, as required by the rules in Slavonia, will be spent on a celebration, or a party with friends.

''In Vinkovci, where we came from Slovakia, I have been alone since I was five years old and it is a city that I love and that I would never leave. I worked for a few months in Sweden, it can be well earned, but it’s not the life for me. I returned to Vinkovci where I feel much better and I would never leave them again'', said Tikvic, who announced that in a few days the Tourist Board of Vinkovci will publish a video of the Roman Days in Vinkovci, where he worked with Davorin Krešić.

In the end, the second prize of the Moja.hr project went to the team from Medulin consisting of Darko Privrat, Mateo Ostojić, and Hugo Vojak, and the third to Timon Terzić, Bojan Horvat, and Dario Mikulek from Varaždin.

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

For more made in Croatia news, follow TCN's dedicated page.

Page 1 of 3

Search