‘Srbenka’ in the Race for the European Oscar

The European Film Academy has announced the list of the 15 best European documentary works of this year, among which is the award-winning ‘Srbenka’ by Nebojša Slijepčević.

“The news caught me in Sarajevo, where we had a very successful regional premiere of the film. Being among the 15 best European documentaries is a huge success, both for me as an author and for the production company Restart. However, this is a film made primarily for the Croatian audience, and we are currently fully focused on the start of domestic cinema distribution. The film will be released in Croatian cinemas on September 20, and I hope this recognition will help the film reach as many domestic viewers as possible,” said director Nebojša Slijepčević on this occasion.

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From the 15 nominated works from across Europe, Academy members will select five, and the award ceremony for the best ‘European Documentary 2018’ will take place on December 15 in Seville, Spain.

Let us remind you that ‘Srbenka’ had its world premiere at the prestigious Visions du Reel festival in Nyon, where it was awarded a special jury recognition, after which the film received the Doc Alliance award at Cannes, awarded by a jury of seven prestigious European documentary festivals.

The documentary film ‘Srbenka’ follows the preparations and rehearsals for the play ‘Aleksandra Zec’ by Oliver Frljić, produced by HKD Teatar from Rijeka. The theater rehearsals soon evolve into a collective psychotherapy for all involved, and for twelve-year-old actress Nina, it seems as if the war has never ended. The film addresses themes of nationalism and xenophobia, observing the impact of Croatian society and public discourse on the lives of primarily children of Serbian nationality, who were born in Croatia years after the end of the Homeland War.

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The film was produced by Restart, with producer Vanja Jambrović and editor Tomislav Stojanović. In addition to Slijepčević, the camera work is credited to Bojan Mrđenović and Iva Kraljević, while the editing and sound mixing were done by Tihomir Vrbanec and Ivan Zelić. The executive producers are Rea Rajčić and Tibor Keser. The film was financially supported by the Croatian Audiovisual Centre, the cities of Rijeka and Zagreb, and the MEDIA Subprogram.