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PRODUCTION / FUNDING Croatia / Slovenia / Brazil / USA

Antoneta Alamat Kusijanović’s Murina is set to premiere at Cannes’ Director’s Fortnight

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- A Croatian-Slovenian-Brazilian-US co-production, the multi-award-winning filmmaker’s debut feature has been selected for the parallel section of the French festival

Antoneta Alamat Kusijanović’s Murina is set to premiere at Cannes’ Director’s Fortnight
Leon Lučev and Danica Ćurčić in Murina

Murina [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Antoneta Alamat Kusijanović
interview: Gracija Filipovic
film profile
]
is the spiritual sequel to Antoneta Alamat Kusijanović’s short film Into the Blue (2017), which premiered at the Berlinale (winning a Special Mention from the Generation 14plus International Jury) before embarking on a long and fruitful festival tour which also resulted in awards at Angers, Oberhausen and Sarajevo. It’s a psychological, family drama which takes place over the course of four days on an island in Croatia. The plot revolves around a teenage girl named Julija (Gracija Filipović, also the star of Into the Blue) who wants to replace her controlling father with his wealthy foreign friend.

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In addition to Filipović, the cast also includes Croatian star actor Leon Lučev (The Load [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Ognjen Glavonić
film profile
]
), Danish actress Danica Ćurčić (of the Silent Heart [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
, Department Q: The Absent One [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
and Darling [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
fame
), Cliff Curtis and Jonas Smulders. The film was shot by top French cinematographer Hélène Louvart (whose credits also include Happy as Lazzaro [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Alice Rohrwacher
film profile
]
, The Invisible Life of Eurídice Gusmão [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Karim Aïnouz
film profile
]
and Never Rarely Sometimes Always [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
), while Vladimir Gojun handled the film’s editing, Evgueni and Sacha Galperine composed the score, and Julij Zornik headed up sound design. The script, for its part, was written by Kusijanović in collaboration with Frank Graziano, for whom Murina is also a first feature-length offering.

The film is produced by Antitalent Produkcija (Croatia), Spiritus Movens (Croatia), SPOK Films (Slovenia), Staragara (Slovenia), RT Features (Brazil) and Sikelia Productions (USA). Daniel Pek, Zdenka Gold, Miha Černec, Jožko Rutar, Rodrigo Teixeira, Lourenço Sant’ Anna, Emma Tillinger Koskoff and US maestro Martin Scorsese are credited as producers and co-producers, while Sophie Mas served as executive producer. Murina enjoyed financial support from the Croatian Audiovisual Centre (HAVC), the Slovenian Film Centre (SFC), RTV Slovenija and Viba Film Studio, as well as via the cash rebate scheme for foreign productions, implemented by the Republic of Slovenia’s Ministry of Culture and the Slovenian Film Centre. Antoneta Alamat Kusijanović spent a few months developing the script in 2017 during the Cinéfondation residency in Cannes. The project Murina was also developed under the auspices of the First Films First and Jerusalem Film Lab programmes.

In a statement, Alamat Kusijanović explained that she had made this film for the various audiences, especially for young girls and her 16-year-old self. “Girls and women have been my inspiration for Murina. Chauvinism is deeply rooted in our society, which is why it is often wrongly referred to as a mentality. Sexism is one of the main antagonists of our heroine Julija, who often confuses its shackles with the limitations of her own abilities”, she added.

Murina was shot on the Croatian islands of Hvar, Kornati and Koločep.

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