This season, our open-air cinemas are becoming one of the most important stages for premiere screenings of new Croatian films, accompanied by visits from film crews. This summer we present two Croatian documentaries, Funk YU and Peacemaker, as well as two Croatian co-productions, Family Therapy and Wishing on a Star.
Family Therapy is a satirical drama following a Slovenian nouveau riche family living in a glass house, radiating detached superiority. When a young stranger arrives in their home, the delicate balance of family dynamics is disrupted and the dysfunctional relationships hidden beneath the surface begin to emerge. The award-winning Slovenian–Croatian film by director Sonja Prosenc had its world premiere in the Official Competition at the Tribeca Film Festival, and its regional premiere at the Sarajevo Film Festival, where it won the Arthouse Cinema Award. Director Sonja Prosenc will attend the screenings.
The documentary Funk YU follows Franko, a vinyl collector, on an adventure across the former Yugoslavia in search of the one record missing from his collection – the single Ulica Jorgovana / Zlatokosa, one of the finest examples of Yugoslav funk. Along the way, he meets a range of colourful characters, interviewing them to gain insight into the obsession with digging through crates of vinyl. Director Franko Dujmić delivers an entertaining musical journey, an “ode” to vinyl that will get audiences dancing. Director Franko Dujmić will attend the screenings, and audiences are encouraged to follow the guest schedule as musical surprises are also being prepared.
Wishing on a Star follows astrologer Luciana, who believes that our lives are influenced by the position of the constellations at the moment of our birth, and that to change one’s life it is enough to travel to a place with a favourable constellation on one’s birthday – the day we are given the chance to be “reborn”. Many people contact Luciana about their problems, and the film follows their stories and birthday journeys. Beneath its humorous tone, the film offers an empathetic search for meaning in a cosmos filled with chaos. This playful and witty documentary co-production involving several countries, including Croatia, premiered at the Venice Film Festival in the competitive Orizzonti section. At screenings in Split, Hvar and Jelsa, we will welcome the film’s main protagonist, Luciana de Leoni.
Well known to FMFS and Kino Mediteran audiences for films such as El Shatt – A Blueprint for Utopia, Once Upon a Youth and Kino Otok, director Ivan Ramljak presents his new documentary Peacemaker. In 1991, at the entrance to Tenja, Josip Reihl Kir was murdered – the head of the Osijek police, a man devoted to negotiation and the avoidance of war. Peacemaker tells the story of the final months of his life, on the eve of a bloody conflict that Kir tried with all his strength to prevent, recounted through witness testimonies and archival materials from the period. Even today, more than thirty years later, many elements of this murder remain unresolved, and the possible masterminds unknown.
The films will be screened throughout July at the Bačvice Open-Air Cinema in Split, as well as at other Kino Mediteran summer cinemas. For guest appearances and repeat screening schedules, please visit www.kinomediteran.hr.
