Home / Information / HAVC announced the list of filmmakers it will finance

HAVC announced the list of filmmakers it will finance

The Croatian Audiovisual Council has made decisions on the allocation of funds to encourage the development of scripts and projects for feature films, feature documentaries, and animated films, as well as for programs of audiovisual associations and organizations.

These are the results of the Public Call for the allocation of funds to promote audiovisual activities and creativity in several categories, with a deadline of October 10, 2017.

A total of 60 applications were received for the Public Call to encourage the development of scripts and projects for feature films, and funds were approved for nine projects in the total amount of 350 thousand kuna, the Croatian Audiovisual Center announced on its website on Wednesday.

>>>Film ‘Fuck Off I Love You’ in cinemas from today

From the feature film projects, co-financing of ‘The Death of the Little Match Girl’ by Goran Kulenović was proposed with 110 thousand kuna, an adaptation of the novel of the same name by writer Zoran Ferić, who is also the co-screenwriter of the film.

It is a mixture of thriller and detective film that original examines the conservative laws of a closed island community, guilt, the relationship to friendship, betrayal, and love, with a touch of a melancholic view on missed opportunities and sins from youth.

Artistic advisors for feature films, Jelena Paljan and Pavao Marinković, expect that due to the genre’s appeal and the popularity of writer Zoran Ferić, the future film could be well-attended in cinemas, while also possessing artistic ambition that could bring it closer to the circle of festival ‘crowd pleasers’.

240 thousand kuna for three comedies

Out of 57 submitted scripts for feature films, eight will be co-financed, including three comedies, with a total of 240 thousand kuna.

‘Bare After Divorce’ is a romantic comedy by screenwriter and director Biljana Čakić written from a woman’s perspective, ‘Lady in the Elevator’ is a romantic comedy with action elements by screenwriter Rona Žulj, while in ‘Croatian Mother’, Sandra Antolić presents a sharp and humorous interpretation of contemporary Croatian themes – emigration, declining birth rates, and male and female archetypal roles.

>>>The last ‘Croatian’ scene of the film Mamma Mia has been filmed

‘Baby’ by Jurica Pavičić and Bruno Anković is a story about a young couple whose news of a possible pregnancy complication brings unrest and uncertainty into their lives, as well as their relationship with their parents, ‘The Boy from Bitumen’ produced by Ljubo Zdjelarević speaks about the real action of rescuing an Afghan refugee from a wagon full of bitumen, and ‘Davor Majer’s Quintet’, which Ognjen Sviličić is working on in collaboration with Marijan Verhoef, is a drama about missed life opportunities of a middle-aged musician.

The Grlić-Tomić tandem adapts Krleža’s still very relevant novel, ‘On the Edge of Sanity’, while writer Franjo Janeš, as a film debutant, is working on ‘The Loop’, described as “a skillfully conceived drama, where several parallel storylines merge into a poignant story about two families and the consequences of war”.

Six projects of feature documentaries

For the call to encourage the development of scripts and projects for feature documentaries, 25 applications were received, and funds were approved for six of them in the total amount of 225 thousand kuna. The artistic advisor is Neven Hitrec.

From the project development category, ‘Wolf of the European Union’ (one hundred thousand kuna) by Dragan Grozdanić and Jadran Boban, dedicated to socially and economically isolated areas of Dalmatian hinterland, was singled out.

>>>In Russia, the film ‘The Death of Stalin’ banned is coming to Croatian cinemas

For script development, funds were approved for five projects (125 thousand kuna), including ‘Kipple’ by Ljiljana Šišmanović, which deals with the concept of unnecessary things that no longer have any function or value, and ‘Today When Tomorrow You Start School’ by Boris Mitić, which presents an intimate journey through the objects and space of the director’s apartment in the form of a single shot.

‘S On the Other Side’ is a project by war photographer Zoran Marinović that depicts this dangerous profession through interviews and authentic footage, ‘The World is Mine’ by Sanja Šamanović deals with Zagreb murals of unknown young men who died, created by their friends, while ‘A Fairy Tale about the European Union’ by Robert Zubrer attempts to penetrate into multiple dimensions of our relationship with refugees passing through Croatia through several stories.

Animated films

For encouraging the development of animated film scripts, funds were approved for two projects in the total amount of 50 thousand kuna.

These are ‘Game of Gods’ by Božidar Trkulja, which continues the theme, characters, and animation technique from the author’s ‘Last Challenge’, and ‘Konrad’s Bird Shop’ by children’s and youth writer Nena Lončar, about freedom as one of the greatest values and about human care for other beings. The artistic advisor for animated film is Boško Picula.

>>>VIDEO: Exorcism – Matanić’s metaphor for collective purification coming soon to cinemas

For the call for the allocation of funds to promote complementary activities in 2018 in the category of Programs of audiovisual associations and organizations, funds were approved for 26 projects in the total amount of 1,475,000 kuna.

As assessed by artistic advisors Jaka Primorac, Mario Kikaš, and Tomislav Šakić, the importance of the continuous operation of professional associations in the field of film, as well as non-professional film and video associations and their umbrella organization, the Croatian Film Association, has been recognized.