Vinko Brešan is one of those filmmakers whose movies have long since transcended the cinema screen – titles such as “How the War Started on My Island”, “Marshal“, and “The Priest's Children” have become part of the nation's cinematic memory. Nearly two decades after first serving on the jury of the Mediterranean Film Festival, he returns to Široki Brijeg, where this year he will help select the best film of the 27th MFF.

I have to admit, I don’t remember the films from 2007, except the impression that they were good. I remember the good atmosphere at the festival. Twenty years is a long period of time, and I am twenty years older. It’s a good thing that I remember at all. 

I have seen some films, and some not. The best film is awarded here, and the best film is an emotional category. This is the film that touches your heart and stays on your mind long after. Technical aspect is the least important to me. All the above mentioned brings true emotion, with the addition of some kind of irrationality which is unpredictable.  

 

"Mocking" might be an ugly word, but it is not inaccurate. If we are doing comedy or have a certain humorous discourse in the film, we should make fun of human flaws. We do not mock people or themes, but rather human flaws. If we look at it that way, there shouldn't be any topics we can't laugh at. Unfortunately, censorship arises when individuals in power recognise those human flaws in themselves or in the systems they lead. Or, when various groups seeking political power rail against the mockery of human flaws on screen, hoping to thereby gain that power.

The script for my latest feature film, "What Country Is This" was written by Mate Matišić. While writing the script, we came up with absurd situations that could happen in Croatia. We strove to exaggerate every motif and every absurdity, believing that exaggeration could lead us to the truth about all of us. However, several years inevitably pass between the writing of a screenplay and the premiere, so it turned out that reality caught up with us in all its absurdity.  At the premiere of "What Country Is This" I felt as though I were watching a documentary.

I wouldn't want it to turn out that a priest started puncturing condoms to boost the birth rate because of the film “The Priest's Children”. I hope reality won't "steal" my ideas.

Zrinko and I started our journey in Yugoslavia, continued through the 90s, and finally to the 21st century. Both of us went through a lot of changes, for the better and for the worse. I believe that both of us, despite having very different artistic sensibilities, came to understand what a feature film is, what its tasks are, and what is expected of it. It was with this awareness that we made our films, and from that perspective that we often discussed the films we watched. I miss Zrinko, because I believe that he understood me and I understood him. And let us not overlook the fact that Zrinko Ogresta was one of the few active directors with a substantial body of film work behind him. One can speak of a body of work when a director has six or more films to their name. Today, Croatian cinema often consists of debut films or works by directors with only two, or at most three, films. This can be a major problem.

It didn't surprise me, but it made me happy. Palme d'Or, César, European Film Award and Oscar nomination for Nebojsa Slijepčević's "The Man Who Couldn't Be Silent" are something we should all be happy about. The same as two and a half million viewers of the film "The Wedding" by Igor Šeregi. That gives hope.

Let’s be honest. It has been a very, very long time since a Croatian feature film appeared in the official competition at Cannes, Venice, or Berlin, the most important festivals. Therefore, when we talk about the successes of Croatian cinema, apart from these two films I mentioned and the film "Zbornica", which won an award in the official competition of the Karlovy Vary festival, we do not have any major festival successes. There have been successes, though not major ones. I believe directors have largely turned toward personal themes, which is a valid approach, but I think there is a lack of films addressing society as a whole and the issues stemming from our society and the system we live in. Such films tend to get greater recognition at festivals and resonate more strongly with audiences.

If a film is good, I watch it just like the audience does. Once the story grips me, I can no longer view the film as a professional; instead, I watch it as an ordinary viewer. I become interested in where the story is going and how it will end. The last film of this kind I watched was Zvyagintsev’s “Leviathan”. A brilliant film whose story captured me and drew me into Russia today. I learned more about Russia from it than I would have from reading hundreds of articles, because the film deals with the emotions of people living in Russia right now.