Festival Promo Trailer for ‘Celebration’ Film About a Village in Croatia
by Alex Billington
June 19, 2024
Source: YouTube
The 2024 Karlovy Vary Film Festival in Czechia begins in a few weeks and this is one of the films premiering there in the main competition. Celebration is a Croatian drama marking the feature directorial debut of Croatian filmmaker Bruno Anković, telling of a tumultuous time in the history of this small, mountainous country in Southeastern Europe. A young Croatian villager’s innocence is shattered by the harsh realities of war, deprivation, and political turmoil between 1926 and 1945, leading him down a dark path. It’s a chilling look at how people end up seduced by right-wing ideologies. Starring Bernard Tomić, Krešimir Mikić, Klara Fiolić, Lars Štern, Jan Doležal, and Nedim Nezirović. This film adaptation of the novel of the same name by Damir Karakaš features wonderful shots of the landscape, it’s also a testimony of systemic brutality and demonstrates the reasons why innocent people become easy quarry for ideological crusaders. Sounds like a timely film that is will show how much of what happened then mirrors what’s happening now.
Here’s the festival promo trailer for Bruno Anković’s film Celebration, direct from YouTube:
Bruno Anković’s feature film debut is set in an impoverished Croatian village between the years 1926 and 1945 – at the end of WWII. The constant deprivation, repeated changes to the regime, and war pervaded the forests and shrouded the place in a miasma that obscured all visions of a better future. Village life was also tough for Mijo (Bernard Tomić): His young, innocent soul was burdened by the outside world and troubled by inhumane orders, and he then fell prey to the false sheen of right-wing ideology. Celebration, also known as Proslava in Croatian, is directed by Croatian filmmaker Bruno Anković, making his feature directorial debut after a few other shorts previously. The screenplay is written by Jelena Paljan. Produced by Rea Rajčić, Tina Tišljar. This is premiering soon at the 2024 Karlovy Vary Film Festival this summer. The film is still seeking distribution. No other release dates are set yet – stay tuned for updates. Look any good?