Selected films are:
A Good Wife, Mirjana Karanović, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia (Sundance Film Festival 2016, Goteborg Film Festival 2016, FEST 2016 - Best Female Role; Politika's Award, Karlovy Vary International Film Festival 2016)
Full Contact, David Verbeek, Netherlands, Croatia (Toronto Film Festival 2015, Chicago International Film Festival 2015 - Best Cinematography; Best Actress, Palm Springs International Film Festival 2016, Rotterdam International Film Festival 2016)
Houston, We Have A Problem!, Žiga Virc, Slovenia, Croatia, Germany, Czech Republic, Qatar (Tribeca Film Festival 2016)
Interruption, Yorgos Zois, Greece, France, Croatia (Venice Film Festival – Orizzonti 2015, Thessaloniki International Film Festival 2015, Palm Springs International Film Festival 2016)
Lazar, Svetozar Ristovski, Macedonia, Croatia, Bulgaria, France (Warsaw Film Festival 2015, Montpellier Film Festival 2015)
Sparrows, Rúnar Rúnarsson, Iceland, Denmark, Croatia (San Sebastián International Film Festival 2015 - Golden Shell for Best Film, Toronto International Film Festival 2015, Chicago International Film Festival 2015 - Silver Hugo, São Paulo International Film Festival 2015 - Best Film, Best Screenplay, Thessaloniki International Film Festival 2015 - Artistic Achivement Award, Les Arcs European Film Festival 2015 - Crystal Arrow for Best Film, Best Actor, Best DOP, the press Prize, Göteborg Film Festival 2016 - FIPRESCI Award, Edinburgh International Film Festival 2016)
Out of competition:
The Liberation of Skopje, Rade Šerbedžija and Danilo Šerbedžija, Macedonia, Croatia, Finland, United Kingdom
A GOOD WIFE (Dobra žena) DIRECTOR: Mirjana Karanović PRODUCER: Snežana Penev After thirty years of marriage, the heroine Milena (50) discovers a secret about her husband that forces her to make a decision whether to continue to live hiding the truth from herself, or leave everything that was previously acquired and start a new chapter, which is pretty scary at her age. Mirjana Karanović (1957) is a Serbian actress known for many important roles. She made her first screen appearance in Srđan Karanović’s film Petria’s Wreath. Her world fame came with the role of the mother in Emir Kusturica’s When Father Was Away on Business. One of her most significant roles was that of Esma in Jasmila Žbanić’s Grbavica (Golden Bear for best film at Berlinale). This role garnered her a nomination for the European Film Academy Award in 2006. A Good Wife marks Mirjana’s directorial debut. Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia 2016 | 94’5’’ |
FULL CONTACT DIRECTOR: David Verbeek PRODUCER: Eva Eisenloeffel, Leontine Petit, Joost de Vries Full Contact is a contemporary tale of a man who accidentally bombed a school through a remotely operated drone plane. Ivan, operating the plane from a faraway air force base, has never been to the foreign countries of his attacks, nor has he ever touched the plane he uses to kill. Modern warfare keeps him safe and disconnected from his prey. However, after this incident Ivan’s disconnectedness starts to apply to everything in his life. He is unable to get the men he killed out of his head and from there on the narrative melts down to become a road movie of the subconscious. David Verbeek (1980) is a Dutch filmmaker. He graduated from the Amsterdam Film Academy. He has directed the features Beat (2004), Shanghai Trance (2008), R U There (2010), Club Zeus (2011) and How to Describe a Cloud (2013). Netherlands, Croatia 2015 | 105’ |
HOUSTON, WE HAVE A PROBLEM! (Houston, imamo problem!) DIRECTOR: Žiga Virc The cold war, the space race, and NASA’s moon landing are landmark events that defined an era. But they are also fodder for conspiracy theories. In Houston, We Have a Problem! filmmaker Žiga Virc adds new material to the discussion on both fronts. This intriguing docufiction explores the myth of the secret multi-billion-dollar deal behind America’s purchase of Yugoslavia’s clandestine space program in the early 1960s. Film and television director Žiga Virc (1987) graduated from the Academy of Theatre, Radio and Television in Ljubljana. His short film Trieste is Ours was among the five finalists for the Student Academy Awards 2010. Virc has directed numerous award-winning commercials, documentary and fiction works. His work is characterized by a combination of a dramatic visual style and a detailed approach, making it appealing to a wide audience.
First feature |
INTERRUPTION (Τρήμα) DIRECTOR: Yorgos Zois* PRODUCER: Maria Drandaki A postmodern theatre adaptation of a classic Greek tragedy takes place in a central theatre of Athens. Like every night, the audience take their seats and the play begins. Suddenly, the lights on stage go out. A group of young people, dressed in black and carrying guns, come up on stage. They apologise for the interruption and invite people from the audience to participate on stage. The play resumes with a main difference; life imitates art and not the opposite. Yorgos Zois (Athens, 1982) presented his debutant short film Casus Belli at the 2010 Venice Film Festival. His second short film Out of Frame was premiered at the 2012 Venice Film Festival, winning the European Film Award for best European short film. Interruption marks his feature directorial debut. Greece, France, Croatia, 2015 | 110’21'' |
LAZAR DIRECTOR: Svetozar Ristovski PRODUCERS: Svetozar Ristovski, Igor A. Nola Present day Macedonia. Lazar works as a “bait” who distracts the police, and overlooks the transfer of illegal immigrants across the border with the EU. Intelligent and discreet, he lives under the patronage of the local mobster, and is able to support his family with the money he makes from the trafficking. He falls in love with a young student, and he starts to contemplate changing his life. Reluctantly, he brings in his brother in law, Toni, to join the smuggling gang. Toni is responsible for the drowning of one of the immigrants, Lazar has to make the impossible decision. Svetozar Ristovski (Velež, 1972) graduated Film and TV Directing at the St Cyril and Methodius University in Skopje. Films: Joy of Life (2001), Mirage (2004), Dear Mr Gacy (2009). In 2014, he co-produced Croatian film These Are The Rules by Ognjen Sviličić. Macedonia, Croatia, Bulgaria, France 2015 | 100’ |
SPARROWS (Þrestir) DIRECTOR: Rúnar Rúnarsson PRODUCERS: Mikkel Jersin, Rúnar Rúnarsson Sparrows is a journey from innocence to adulthood. It takes place during a summer in a remote, Icelandic fishing village, which is in decline. During the nights at this time of the year, it is a place where the sun does not set. 16-year old boy Ari has been living with his mother in Reykjavik and is suddenly sent back to the remote Westfjords to live with his father Gunnar. There, he has to navigate a difficult relationship with his father, and he finds his childhood friends changed. In these hopeless and declining surroundings, Ari has to step up and find his way. Rúnar Rúnarsson (Reykjavík, 1977) made his feature film debut at the Directors Fortnight in Cannes 2011 with Volcano. He was nominated for the Oscars in 2006 (The Last Farm), the Palme d’Or in Cannes 2008 and the European Film Awards in 2008 (2 Birds). Iceland, Dennmark, Croatia 2015 | 99’ |
THE LIBERATION OF SKOPJE (Osloboduvanje na Skopje) DIRECTOR: Rade Šerbedžija, Danilo Šerbedžija PRODUCERS: Igor A. Nola, Gorjan Tozija, Robert Naskov, Vladimir Anastasov Rade Šerbedžija is one of the best known Croatian actors. He has played many prominent stage roles and he appeared in more than 170 films. Some of the most notable national screen appearances include Cyclops, Evening Bells, Variola Vera and Seventy-Two Days. After Milcho Manchevski’s Before the Rain, winner of Venice, the door of the world cinema opened up for him and he appeared in Eyes Wide Shut, The Saint, Mission: Impossible II, etc. He has directed about ten theatrical productions. He is a professor of acting at the University of Rijeka. He has played King Lear at Fort Minor on Mali Brijuni island for already 16 years. Macedonia, Croatia, Finland, United Kingdom, 2016 | 111’ |