Two Croatian projects at European training programme EKRAN+ 2020
The Graduates, by director Hrvoje Mabić and The Bear Peak, by Filip Filković are two Croatian projects of the total nine chosen to participate in EKRAN +, the European training programme focusing on the creative pre-production process and intended for key creatives working on a film project.
The Graduates, which is Hrvoje Mabić’s debut feature-length fiction film is a different take on the coming-of-age story in which the intense and intimate personal dramas are closely intertwined with a historical moment – the 2016 US presidential election. Mabić is also the film’s screenwriter, while the film’s producer is Sabina Krešić of the production company Fade In.
The Bear Peak by Filip Filković, is a drama with elements of thriller and adventure film. It is a story about David and Rok, two estranged brothers who decide to spend a weekend in the mountains to work on their relationship. The elder brother, Rok, is responsible for David going blind when they were children, making their relationship haunted by resentment and guilt. As simmering resentment builds tension, the arguments interchange with a newfound sense of closeness, while the brothers will have to learn to trust each other again if they want to survive.
Filip Filković is the film’s scriptwriter and director, while Dora Šustić is a collaborator on the script, and the film is produced by production company Antitalent.
In the first session, held 2nd–5th March, the participants will analyse their film treatments, participate in a pitching session, create visual presentations for their projects and prepare for the second and third sessions, under the mentorship of Wojciech Marczewski, Udayan Prasad and Denijal Hasanović. A special guest of the workshop is producer and European Audiovisual Entrepreneurs (EAVE) expert Roshanak Behesht Nedjad. The second session takes place 16th–24th July, with the third session happening 15th–23rd June, and the closing programme to be held in December of this year.
EKRAN+ is a European training programme organized by Polish Wajda Studio and Wajda School, specifically aimed at the segment of creative pre-production of feature films, held since 2007 and organized by project partners: Wajda Studio and Wajda School and various European film funds and training programs for film professionals, such as FOCAL (Switzerland), the Austrian Film Institute (Austria), Lithuanian Film Centre (Lithuania) and the Croatian Audiovisual Centre, and supported by the EU Creative Europe/MEDIA sub-programme.
Titular photographs: project visuals for The Graduates and The Bear Peak