Team CroatianSports.com invite you to the Croatian Film Festival of Los Angeles on May 30th – June 1st. The American Cinematheque is celebrating the latest films from Croatia with a mini-festival, “Kino Croatia: New Films of 2014,” which opens Friday at the Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood and then moves Saturday and Sunday to the Aero in Santa Monica.
Vinko Brešan’s hit comedy “The Priest’s Children” (Svećenikova djeca) will open up the festival at 7:30pm at the Egyptian Theatre on Friday. This film has been nominated for “Best Comedy” at the European Film Awards. This is the first time that a Croatian film has been nominated for the prestigious European Film Academy award since Arsen Ostojić’s “A Wonderful Night in Split” (Ta divna splitska noć) nearly a decade ago. “The Priest’s Children” is a story about a young priest on a Dalmatian island who, in order to increase the birth rate in the village, begins to punch holes in condom packets. The film had the most successful opening in 22 years in Croatia.
The Priest’s Children trailer
On Saturday, Aero Theatre will show a double feature “Handymen” and “Flower Square” starting at 7:30pm. Director Dalibor Matanić & actor Nikša Butijer will be there in person for a Q & A in between films. Dalibor Matanić is better known for “The Cashier Wants to go on a Holiday” (Blagajnica hoće ići na more, 2000) and “Fine Dead Girls”(Fine mrtve djevojke, 2002). Handymen is about an unusual love triangle between a virtuoso housewife, a clumsy handymen, a railway worker and a lonely fisherman.
“Handymen” trailer
In Croatian director Krsto Papić’s latest black comedy, “Flower Square” an actor is blackmailed by police into participating in a sting operation that leaves him and his family on the lam from the Mafia. A man trapped in a world he not only never made, but also wants no part of.
“Flower Square” trailer
The film festival will conclude on Sunday night at the Aero Theatre with another double feature “Vis-a-Vis” and “A Stranger.” “Vis-a-Vis” is about a young director (Rakan Rushaidat) struggling to make his autobiographical debut feature cloisters himself on the island of Vis along with his lead actor (Janko Volarić Popović) to get the script into shape. As the men’s artistic struggles intertwine with their personal ones, writer-director Marasović (THE SHOW MUST GO ON) reveals an affinity for sharp, self-reflexive humor reminiscent of vintage Woody Allen.
“Vis-a-Vis” trailer
“A Stranger” was the winner of the Gran Golden Arena at the most recent Pula Film Festival. This powerful drama is about the ethnic tensions that still exist in the Bosnia and Herzegovina city of Mostar, two decades after the war.
“A Stranger” trailer