WORKSHOP
(FOR PITCH PARTICIPANTS ONLY)
FRIDAY, 21 JULY, 5 – 7 P.M.
FESTIVAL CENTRE
(HOME OF CROATIAN VETERANS, LEHAROVA 1)
MENTOR: Vanja Jambrović
Vanja Jambrović
graduated in philosophy and comparative literature from the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences of the University of Zagreb in 2005, and in 2011 she graduated in film and theatre production from the Academy of Dramatic Art in Zagreb. Since 2009, she has been making films with Restart as a delegate producer. Her films have won more than 150 awards at international film festivals, and have been screened at festivals such as IDFA, Hot Docs, DokLeipzig, Karlovy Vary, Toronto IFF, FidMarseille. Srbenka, directed by Nebojša Slijepčević (2018) won a total of 23 awards at film festivals, preselected for the EFA Awards in the best documentary category, and won the Doc Allianze Award for best documentary film. Her projects have been financed by various international institutions, including the Sundance Institute, Eurimages, and Creative Europe. She was a part of international workshops for film producers REACT (2017), EAVE (2015), Producer on the Move in Cannes (2014), Emerging Producer in Jihlava
(2012), and Eurodoc (2010). Since 2020 she has been teaching the Documentary Film Production course at the Academy of Dramatic Art in Zagreb. Since 2022 she has been a mentor at international workshops such as Documentary Campus Master School from Germany, Ex Oriente, CIRCLE Women Doc Accelerator, and BDC Discoveries.
PITCH
HOST: Ljubo Lasić
PARTICIPANTS: authors of selected projects
Language: Croatian
Jury: Ines Žuljević (director of distribution, Blitz film i video distribucija), Zdenka Gold (producer, Spiritus
Movens), Luka Mihailović (director and writer of Indigo Crystal)
Ines Žuljević
Director of International Theatrical Distribution Film distribution expert with over 23 years of extensive experience in planning, evaluating, budgeting, and distribution of studio films from major industry players such as Warner Bros. Entertainment, Universal Pictures, Paramount Pictures, 20th Century Studios, The Walt Disney Company, and for the biggest independent companies like MGM, LionsGate, Amblin, STX, Studio Canal and many others.
Zdenka Gold
was born in 1975 in Zagreb. She graduated in Italian language and literature, Indology, and Portugese language and literature from the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences in Zagreb. She participated at a number of specialised film workshops, including EURODOC 2011, EAVE 2013, ACE 2015, and PRODUCTION VALUE 2016.
After years of working on a number of theatre and film productions and film festivals,
she founded the production company Spiritus movens in 2016. The company specialises in producing independent films (fiction and documentary), and also organises cultural and educational events, co-productions, and service production. Zdenka also works with other production companies as executive producer.
Films produced by Spiritus movens have been screened and awarded at top festivals, including the official selection at Cannes (Sieranevada, Cristi Puiu), Quinzaine des Réalisateurs (Murina, Antoneta Alamat Kusijanović, Caméra d’Or winner), official selection at Berlin (God Exists, Her Name Is Petrunya, Teona Strugar Mitevska), and Venice International Film Festival, where Belladonna, directed by Dubravka Turić, won the Orizzonti Award for Best Short Film. Documentary films produced by Spiritus moves are regularly screened at the leading film festivals in the region and sold to TV stations.
Luka Mihailović
was born on 22 July 1997 in Šabac, where he finished elementary and secondary school. In 2016 he enrolled into the Faculty of Dramatic Arts in the class of professor Darko Bajić. He made several short fiction and documentary films as a student. He has worked as assistant director on domestic and foreign productions. Indigo Crystal is his graduation/debut film.
The new programme of presenting film projects aims to support screenplays and projects in development that successfully combine authorial and commercial sensibilities. The selected projects will be presented to the three-member jury, and the best project will receive a cash prize in the amount of 10,000 EUR for further development, with 5,000 EUR provided by Blitz distribution company and 5,000 EUR Croatian Audiovisual Centre
Projects to be presented: Black Swan (H. Hribar), Summer Is Coming (A. Marin), Twelve words (L. Mavretić and V. Mavretić), Night Waves (F. Heraković), Rhino (D. Turić), Ogledalo za slavuja (K.Lulić), Prozor preko puta (K. Z.Matijević), Viktorija (L. Galešić)
PROJEKTI
BLACK SWAN
Author: Hrvoje Hribar
A village girl gets to higher politics, a banker from Zagreb to the branch office at the village. At the foothills of the D Mountain in N-ska County, a deep spring. A robust man flings a money counting machine into the water, and proceeds to take out a hunting rifle from the trunk of his car and kills himself. The central bank sends a replacement, Janko Boris Labud, who makes it just in time for the funeral. He has a new money counting machine and assumes responsibility for the branch office, but with it also for a whole host of characters surrounding it. The commission states that the deceased banker has left the safe completely empty save for a green notebook containing information that can cost a lot of people their life. Janko hides the notebook from the investigators so he could get to know the county prefect Anica Kralj better. He makes a decision to continue to help her, in his own way and following his own rules.
Hrvoje Hribar is a film director and producer. He graduated in film directing from the Academy of Dramatic Art. He produced and directed the comedy What Is a Man Without a Moustache? (2005), the most watched Croatian film of the 2000s, and wrote, directed and produced two documentary films before that (The World Is Great, 1999 and Once There Was a Man, 2001), as well as his feature debut The Tranquilizer Gun (1997). He directed and wrote the TV film Croatian Cathedrals (1992) and the short film Between Zaghlul and Zaharias (1994). In 2001, he directed the TV series New Age for Croatian Radiotelevision. He won the Oktavijan Award for Best Film a number of times (The Tranquilizer Gun, Once There Was a Man and Between Zaghlul and Zaharias). Since November 2008, he has been serving as a member of the Executive Committee of the Federation of European Screen Directors, and from September 2010 to February 2017 he was the Chief Executive Officer of the Croatian Audiovisual Centre. He is a member of the Croatian Film Directors’ Guild and the Croatian Producers Association. In 2011 he won the Albert Kapović Award of the Croatian Producers Association for his contribution to Croatian film, and in 2013 he was awarded the Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters by the French Ministry of Culture for his contribution to cultural cooperation and strengthening the ties between the Croatian and French audiovisual sector.
SUMMER IS COMING
Author: Ante Marin
A dark humour science-fiction comedy about four young people, spoilt 21st century kids, trying to survive on a post-apocalypse Mediterranean island they found themselves on for team building. On the first day they make a barbecue and play team games, and the second day is the end of the world. A coronal mass ejection from the Sun causes an electromagnetic pulse to destroy any electronics on Earth. Thrown almost two centuries into the past, the whole of the modern world comest to a halt. It will not recover for a long time, probably ever
Ante Marin (1985) graduated in history from the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences and in dramaturgy from the Academy of Dramatic Art in Zagreb. He works as screenwriter on film and TV projects, and also as screenwriter, director, actor, and producer on short films. He has gained additional experience at numerous workshops and pitching forums (Pulanko, Film School of Kino Klub Split, Sitcom Media Pro organised by Nova TV, Croatian Film Days, Croatian Short Pitch – Diversions, ZagrebDox pitching). He is one of the founders, teaching coordinator, and lecturer at the Screenwriting School Palunko of the Croatian Film Association. He is a member of Kino klub Split, Blank_filmski incubator Association, and the Croatian Screenwriters and Playwrights Guild. He won the award for social innovation and various special mentions for his volunteer work.
TWELVE WORDS
Authors: Luka Mavretić, Valentina Mavretić
Rudi (24), Sven (24), Ela (24), Džani (22) and Jo (22) are inseparable friends who created a collection of NFT cards with the help of their friend, illustrator and software developer Miki (30). Sven decided to publish and sell them on their own, excluding the rest of the gang, who now come together to take revenge on Sven. The plan looks simple: find twelve words that work as the password for Sven’s digital wallet.
Luka Mavretić Luka Mavretić (1991) graduated in dramaturgy from the Academy of Dramatic Art in Zagreb. He published two books of poetry, Stopom u nebo (2012) and Igra kameleona (2014). His three short plays (Neistina o visinama, Teški spojevi, Papagaj), directed by Stephanie Hamnicky, wereperformed on Croatian Radio 1 in 2017. He is a member of the Croatian Writers’ Association and the Croatian Screenwriters and Playwrights Guild. His directorial debut, the feature documentary Being Related to John Malkovich, received support from the Croatian Audiovisual Centre, Mi istry of Culture of Italy, and RE-ACT in its preproduction phase, and won the HBO Europe award at ZagrebDox Pro.The miniseries Uho, which he co-wrote, has been included in the prestigious TorinoFilmLab workshop and among the ten TV projects in international competition of the New Europe Market conference programme.
Valentina Mavretić (1993) graduated in dramaturgy from the Academy of Dramatic Art in Zagreb. She won the Marin Držić Award for her drama text Kod Peregrinovih. She is the author of three radio plays performed on HRT and directed by Stephanie Jamnicky. She is the co-writer of the feature documentary Being Related to John Malkovich. She worked at the Croatian National Theatre in Zagreb, Gavella Theatre, Mala scena Theatre, Children’s Theatre Dubrava, Trešnja Theatre, Dubrovnik Summer Festival, etc. She is the co-writer of the miniseries Uho. She is an associate (screenwriter) on the new project of the Croatian Radiotelevision’s children’s programme. She is a member of the Croatian Screenwriters and Playwrights Guild and the Croatian Association of Drama Artists
NIGHT WAVES
Author: Filip Heraković
The film is set in the surroundings of taxi drivers who work nights at the time of big electronic music festivals organised along the Croatian coast during the summer. The main character is Toni, a seasonal worker who, when he gets fired, takes over the job of an Uber driver by chance. One night he receives a request from the client Sara, who needs to be picked up outside the entrance to the festival and taken to the city. At first, Toni accepts the request, but then declines it when another group offers more money for a ride to their hotel. The next day he sees the police at the festival grounds investigating a case related to the missing young girl.
Filip Heraković (1989) graduated in dramaturgy from the Academy of Dramatic Art in Zagreb. He wrote and directed several short films screened at domestic and international film festivals. His first feature film, Pelican, premiered at Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival, where it received the special jury prize. Pelican also won the award for best film in the Brave Balkans section at the Auteur Film Festival in Belgrade. He is currently completing his short fiction film Crocodile’s Teeth, which received support from the Croatian Audiovisual Centre at the public call for stimulating production. He is also developing the short fiction film Night Waves. He is a member of the European Film Academy, Croatian Film Directors’ Guild, and Plafon Arts Organisation.
RHINO
Author: Dubravka Turić
Lying idly on the couch, Raks hears a TV report on the scourge of rhinos in Africa and the smug gling of their
horns into the illegal Chinese market. Powder from rhino horns is considered an aphrodisiac in China and is sold at soaring prices. Raks devises a plan to get a rhino in Zagreb and informs his friends Živko and Bara. After unsuccessfully looking for a taxidermied head of a rhino in unguarded museums, hunting lodges and Tito’s abandoned residences, Raks, Živko and Bara give up their naive idea. Soon afterwards, a TV report talks about a politician who has been arrested and his secret bunker full of illicit works of art and hunting trophies. The photo of the politician taken on safari captures their attention. They decide to brake into the bunker.
Dubravka Turić (1973) graduated in film and TV editing from the Academy of Dramatic Art in Zagreb. She is a director, editor, and screenwriter. Her first project, the short fiction film Belladonna, won the Golden Lion for Best Short Film at Venice Film Festival in 2015. It was also the first Croatian film at Sundance Film Festival. Her second feature fiction film, Cherries (2017), premiered at Directors’ Fortnight in Cannes in 2017, and her film Tina (2019) premiered at Sarajevo Film Festival. Her first feature film, Traces, had its world premiere at the Warsaw Film Festival in 2022, and is still in festival distribution. She has worked as editor on more than 30 films and 200 commercials, and has worked as screenwriter, other than on her own films, on documentary TV series Svlačionica, Mjenjačnica, Koledžicom po svijetu and others. She is a member of the Filmmakers Association of Croatia and the Croatian Freelance Artists’ Association.
MIRROR OF NIGHTINGALES
Author: Karla Lulić
The story of Dora, professional weeper, the best in the village – when she weeps, even the dead cry. One day Dora is late and cries at the wrong cemetery. Her business is dead, and her reputation ruined. Desperately looking for crying gigs, Dora meets Dunda, a man who desperately wants to die, but can’t. Two people between life and death, Dora and Dunda need each other: if Dora helps Dunda to die, he will get her a gig, the ultimate gig in the village. However, their love leads to an unexpected turn of events, and Dunda will
be able to die, while Dora will finally be able to live.
Karla Lulić is a screenwriter and producer. She graduated in cinema and TV production at Sorbonne. She was the president of the Cultural Council of the City of Koprivnica for two terms. She has successfully realised and produced three awarded short fiction films, and her latest, Ostrižena, is soon going into distribution. Her first independent films, In the Name of the Strawberry, the Chocolate and the Holy Spirit and Following… have been awarded and screened at a number of domestic and international festivals. She also gained experience at the Paris production company Clandestine films, where she worked as production assistant and coordinator, and at Nova TV, where she worked as head of Research, Development and Planing on-air. She worked as producer on the debut feature project Emergency Exit by awarded director Bogdan Muresanu. Her debut feature film in advance stage of development, the dark folk comedy Mirror for Nightingales, is supported by the MEDIA fund, the Croatian Audiovisual Centre and the City of Koprivnica. She is the founder of the company Dobar film, and is a member of the Croatian Screenwriters and Playwrights Guild and the Croatian Film Directors’ Guild.
THE WINDOW ACROSS THE STREET
Author: Katarina Zrinka Matijević
While giving an exclusive interview about banks stealing one hundred million euros from Croatian citizens at the studio of the news portal Index, Sanja Mehinović (53) hadno idea what would make her cry. The window across the street from the studio, where the most famous investigative reporter Ilko Čimić (47) was waiting for her, was the windowof her office, where she spent months printing out materialsto prove that Raiffeisen Leasing Bank, headed by Izidora Juroš (54), defrauded its clients. Sanja’s apartment was buried under tens of thousands of printed pages, proof, for months, and she was harassed about it, on medication, and intimidated because of it, but was able to prove the biggest bank fraud in these parts.
Katarina Zrinka Matijević (1973) is a film director and screenwriter. She graduated in film and TV directing from the Academy of Dramatic Art and in philosophy and comparative literature from the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences in Zagreb. Her awarded student film Duel (1998) gained her attention. Her first professional documentary film, On Cows and Men (2002, co-directed by Nebojša Slijepčević), was screened at major international festivals such as IDFA, Munich, etc. In 2003 she filmed Peščenopolis. Her documentary film A Two Way Mirror (2016) received the Oktavijan Award and was screened at a number of prestigious documentary film festivals. Her first feature film, The Trampoline, premiered in 2016, and following numerous screenings at international festivals, it is used to train staff at paediatric and adolescent psychology and psychiatry clinics in Croatia, Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina.
VIKTORIJA
Author: Luka Galešić
Forty-year-old Viktorija is a homely, withdrawn, and frustrated virgin who is treated as a maid by her dominant and narcissistic mother Fabijanka. When Fabijanka suddenly has a serious stroke, Viktorija realises that she will lose all her freedom if she brings her mother back to the apartment. With support from her boss, old widower and owner of antique shop, Lucijan, she makes the decision of her life and puts her mother in a hospice. Haunted by a sense of guilt, but also excited about her newfound freedom, she goes out to experience life and acts like a teenager: she dyes her hair for the first time, gets waxed, sees a gynaecologist, buys feminine clothes, takes a yoga class, consumes stories about sex, tries to find female friends, takes her own virginity, and goes on a speed date.
Luka Galešić (1991) studied journalism at the Faculty of Political Science and dramaturgy at the Academy of Dramatic Art, and in 2016 enrolled into film and TV editing at the Academy, where he is currently in his last year of his graduate studies in fiction film. As a student of dramaturgy, he received the Rector’s Award for his regional project Justice. He worked as an associate on the screenplay of the feature film Lada Kamenski, directed by Sara Hribar and Marko Šantić. For the past three years he has been working as assistant director on Croatian films and series such as The Diary of Paulina P., The Head of a Big Fish, The Staffroom, Sixth Bus, etc. He is currently working on his debut fiction film Viktorija.
