News

In the chilling opening moments of Bruno Ankovic’s “Celebration” (Proslava), Mijo (Bernard Tomi?) is hiding away from the authorities. They are out for his blood amid the biting cold in the Autumn of 1945. Since this is the opening act, we are unaware of who Mijo is, where he comes from, and why the authorities are hunting him like rag dogs. The director’s intentions are pretty clear. He wants us to feel empathic towards Mijo before he slowly starts stripping away the said empathy for a more piercing look at what makes things lead to right-wing extremism.

Based on the novel “Celebration” by Damir Karaka?, the film is set in the Independent State of Croatia, a puppet state formed by Nazi Germany in 1941. However, the non-linear narrative moves through four timelines – the autumn of 1945, the summer of 1933, the winter of 1926, and the spring of 1941. Mijo is the central character in all timelines; through him,...

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 Ankovi?, 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 Tomi?, Kre?imir Miki?, Klara Fioli?, Lars ?tern, Jan Dole?al, and Nedim Nezirovi?. This film adaptation of the novel of the same name by Damir Karaka? 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...