Cinderellas, Queens and Godmothers of Croatian Film 2012/2013
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
of croatian film 2012/2013 1 In 2008, the year that the Croatian Audiovisual A recent box-office success (accomplished by the Centre was founded, a round table was held at the name you will encounter later on in this brochure) Pula Film Festival, where the visibility of women in made us think of female feature film directors as Croatian cinema was discussed. The numbers didn’t modern-day Cinderellas, who just recently came into look promising: out of 108 feature films that were the spotlight. On the other hand, female directors produced from 1990 to 2007, only 6 were directed by have been ruling the short film scene for a while. women. 45 films were produced in the next 5 years, These Queens have been introducing new sensibili- three of which have been directed by a woman. ties and fresh topics into Croatian cinema with curi- Considering that an additional two are being shaped osity and confidence. And let’s not forget about the and finalized in post-production, and scheduled for producers - the Fairy Godmothers of Croatian film. release within a year, we can conclude that things They are the ones making it all possible by turning are looking better for women in the filmmaking busi- pumpkins into magical carriages that take all our ness, as they are steadily filling the ranks amongst filmmakers to the dance. local feature film directors. This brochure is an invitation to the ball where However, numbers are not the only indicator of you will meet the Cinderellas, Queens and Fairy success. Despite the statistics that are still in favour Godmothers of the Croatian film industry who, of men, some of the most important achievements in despite the dry reality of numbers and statistics, contemporary Croatian cinema can be attributed to are making fairy tales come true. female filmmakers - feature and short directors, as well as producers. Their paths resemble a modern take on the classic fairy tale, in which unfortunate circumstances turn to gold by a sudden fortunate twist of events. 2 3 of feature film When, at the end of 2012, the romantic comedy While there were no women aamong the applicants Sonja and the Bull, directed by Vlatka Vorkapić, hit for feature film production grants in 2008 and 2009, the screens in Croatia and dethroned Hollywood the last three years show a slight increase in the blockbusters The Rise of the Guardians and The percentage of women applying for production grants Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn at the local box offices, (9,5% in 2010; 8,3% in 2011; 15, 6% in 2012). During we witnessed a rare occurrence in Croatian Cinema. this period, only one film directed by a woman With 301,975 kunas (39. 925 euros) gross earnings received a production grant - Jasmila Žbanić’s The in the opening week, Vorkapić’s debut feature took Love Island. However, women had more success over the title of the biggest Croatian film opening in the grant category for debut feature films. In in the last decade. Also, Sonja and the Bull was an 2008, out of eight supported films, two of them had announcement of what was to follow with Vinko a female director attached - Rules and Exceptions Brešan’s Priest’s Children that smashed the local by Ivona Juka, and Step by Step by Biljana Čakić- box office, thus reinstating the shattered faith in Veselič. In 2009 and 2010, two out of four films that Croatian cinema and its relevance to the domestic received funding had a female director. In 2009, it market. In the end, Sonja and the Bull generated was Sonja and the Bull by Vlatka Vorkapić, and in an unprecedented interest, ending its theatrical run 2010, it was Zagreb Cappuccino by Vanja Sviličić. with almost 100,000 viewers. Speaking of grants, there is another category, intro- Although the number of women in feature film duced in 2010, which helped boost the presence of directing is still not a reason to brag about, and female filmmakers on the Croatian scene - script the share of women applying for state funding development. Thanks to havc’s support of this vital for production is still far from ideal, things have stage in the filmmaking process, four of the film significantly changed for female feature film direc- directors presented in this brochure have received tors since 2008, when a roundtable discussing the an opportunity to develop the scripts of their feature visibility of female filmmakers took place in Pula. films so far. We will soon have a chance to see the feature film debuts of two very promising direc- tors: Zagreb Cappuccino by Vanja Sviličić, featuring popular theatre and tv actresses Nela Kocsis and Mila Elegović; and Rules and Exceptions, an ambi- tious debutant feature by awarded author Ivona Juka. Vanja Sviličić began her career After repeatedly applying for state as an art photographer, but when funding without much success, she decided to change the lenses Vlatka Vorkapić famously stated: of her still camera for those of a The number of scripts I can write film camera, she got accepted in is more than the number of times the Berlinale Talent Campus 2008, they can turn me down. Vlatka where her documentary short On Vorkapić is an independent artist, the Square had its international screenwriter and director. She premiere. Her career took a new has directed over 30 documen- turn when her documentary Am taries, two short films, and wrote I Happy or What? (2011) received two stage plays. Her feature film the Jury’s Special Mention at directorial debut Sonja and the the ZagrebDox Film Festival. In Bull hit Croatian screens in fall this film, she applied the fly-on- 2012. It was a sleeper box-office the-wall style to tell a fiction-like success, reaching almost 100.000 story about chambermaids’ daily viewers in total, which is a number routines in an unnamed hotel in usually reserved for Hollywood Zagreb. One of the most frequent blockbusters in Croatia. In Sonja comments that the film provoked and the Bull, Vorkapić translated was that her protagonists looked the topic from one of her earlier so natural in front of the camera, documentaries into a classic that they left an impression of a screwball comedy that revolves well-tuned acting ensemble. For around bullfighting, the clash of this young and talented director, rural and urban Croatia and, of expectations run high, as we course, the battle of the sexes. eagerly await the premiere of her Although it had a solid marketing upcoming feature debut Zagreb campaign, the film’s success is Cappuccino, starring some of owed to the word-of-mouth buzz, Croatia’s most popular theater which is a rare occurrence in actresses. Croatian cinema. 6 7 Having directed over 20 award-winning short and middle-length documentary and fiction films, Irena For many years, Biljana Čakić Veselič was known for Škorić is by far the most prolific Croatian filmmaker. her successful documentary The Boy Who Rushed Her best-known short film is Farewell (2008) that (2001), in which she tells the story about the war in won 38 national and international awards, followed Croatia through her personal experience of loss, by an award-winning documentary The Destiny of which was something quite different from the way Line 13 (2009). In 2011, she wrote and directed her the topic was dealt with in the Croatian cinema of debut feature film 7seX7, an ode to life and erotica the 90s. She also directed a docu-biopic of the pio- inspired by Boccaccio’s Decameron. neering Croatian female journalist and writer Marija Jurić Zagorka (Zagorka, 2008) and the war drama Step by Step (2011). Ivona Juka is a scriptwriter and director. Her award- Snježana Tribuson is a record holding Croatian winning creative documentary Facing The Day female director with 3 feature films under her belt. (2006) enjoyed a very successful theatrical run both Her feature debut Recognition in 1996 was a thriller- in Croatia and Macedonia. She is also the author drama about the consequences of the war crimes, of the award-winning shorts Garbage (2004) and but her next two features - The Three Men of Melita Editing (2006), selected and awarded at numerous Žganjer (1998) and God Forbid a Worse Thing Should international film festivals. She directed the Croatian Happen (2002) - relied more on humor, nostalgia segment of the feature omnibus Some Other Stories and parody of soap-opera clichés. She is currently (2010). At the moment, she is finalizing her feature developing her 4th feature All the Best. Since 2004, debut Rules and Exceptions. she has been teaching film and tv directing at the Zagreb Academy of Dramatic Art. of short film In recent years, the Croatian short film scene has One can’t deserve a royal title without a considerable The relationships between mothers, siblings, and In any case, there is a reason why these ladies have been dominated by female filmmakers. Ardently amount of audacity, and that is what the Queens of girlfriends, female sexual appetite(s) and erotic a crown on their head. And considering the fact embraced by the audiences, their works continu- Short Film have in abundance. With a healthy dose imagination became the topics of fiction, docu- that some of them are developing their first feature ally surpass even the most exalted expectations of of ambition and curiosity, they explore the subjects mentary and even animated films. Exploring new projects, their reign might soon expand to other domestic festival juries. As solid proof of their quality and characters that have, up until recently, been left subjects was almost without exception followed by fields as well! and artistic merit, their authors often leave these in the background.