The Frog
Director | Elmir Jukic |
Writer | Pjer Zalica, Elmir Jukic |
Camera | Dejan Dimeski |
Editor | Vladimir Gojun |
Cast | Emir Hadzihafizbegovic, Aleksandar Seksan, Mirsad Tuka, Moamer Kasumovic, Ilir Tafa |
Sound | Srdjan Kurpjel |
Producer | Ademir Kenovic – Refresh Production; Skopje Film Studio, Living Pictures, Propeler Film, Iridium Film |
Original Title | ZABA |
Year | 2017 |
Length | 78 min |
Country | Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia, Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia |
Subtitles | English |
Section | EXCITING, CURRENT CINEMA |
Screening | Saturday 10 November | 19:30 hours | Filmhuis Den Haag Sunday 11 November | 18:45 hours | Filmhuis Den Haag |
Based on a record braking stage play that has been loved by the audience not only in Sarajevo but the whole Ex-Yu for more than a decade. Winner of three Golden Arenas at Pula FF and the Audience Award at the Sarajevo FF. Brilliant performances of Emir Hadzihafizbegovic, Aleksandar Seksan, Mirsad Tuka and Moamer Kasumovic. Screenings will be followed by Q&A with the director Elmir Jukić. Dutch Premiere
Synopsis
Zeko is a barber and war veteran suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. One day he invites his brother Braco and friend Svabo to Eid festivities. He intends to take advantage of the holiday mood and ask his brother, a gambler and alcoholic, to get back on the right path. When he realize that Braco does not have intention to change himself, he tries to force him. A violent conflict breaks out between them and Zeko starts to lose his ground. Alone, without his only friend and his brother, he decides to kill himself – until a young man, selling books door-to-door, suddenly arrives. The first feature film by well-known Bosnian theatre and TV series director Elmir Jukic, based on the iconic stage play by Dubravko Mihanovic.
Festivals & Awards (selection)
Sarajevo FF 2017 – Audience Award | Manaki Brothers, International Cinematographers’ FF, Macedonia 2017 – Bronze Camera 300 Award | Balkan Florence Express, Firenze 2018 – Special Mention | Bosnian-Herzegovinian FF, New York 2018 – Best Feature Film | Pula FF, 2018 – Fedeora Jury Award, Golden Arenas for Best Film and Best Director within Croatian Minority Co-Production category
Director’s bio
Elmir Jukic (Sarajevo, 1971) graduated from the Academy of Performing Arts in Sarajevo where he now teaches Directing. He has worked as a director for theatre and TV, and has written for Bosnian magazines including Sineast in which he was a member of the editorial board. With his own films Elmir participated on film festivals in Angers, Ljubljana, Trieste, Goteborg, Prague, Rotterdam, Novosibirsk, Budapest, Pula, Paris, Barcelona, Zagreb, Florence, Klermond-Ferant, Brussels, Toronto, Sent Petersburg, Locarno… His short film Frame for the Picture of My Homeland (2005) was awarded at Locarno International Film Festival. The Frog (2017) is his feature debut.