The official Oscar selection from Croatia, “Traces” is an elegant, mood-suffused drama about an anthropologist named Ana (Marija Skaricic) who is grappling with loneliness, loss and an uncertain future.
“The ideas of vanishing and pain and changes in our lives, these are things I think about,” said the film’s director, writer and editor Dubravka Turić during a virtual conversation for TheWrap’s 2023-24 International Film Screening Series. After directing several award-winning short films, Turić is now in the awards conversation with her feature debut.
While foremost a film about this one woman’s journey, “Traces” also offers fascinating glimpses into the an ancient burial ritual that the character is researching. Namely “Mirila,” the word for measuring, a practice in which exposed stones in a burial area would mark the length of a deceased person’s body, and therefore leave a sign — a trace — of the life that had been lived.
“The ideas of vanishing and pain and changes in our lives, these are things I think about,” said the film’s director, writer and editor Dubravka Turić during a virtual conversation for TheWrap’s 2023-24 International Film Screening Series. After directing several award-winning short films, Turić is now in the awards conversation with her feature debut.
While foremost a film about this one woman’s journey, “Traces” also offers fascinating glimpses into the an ancient burial ritual that the character is researching. Namely “Mirila,” the word for measuring, a practice in which exposed stones in a burial area would mark the length of a deceased person’s body, and therefore leave a sign — a trace — of the life that had been lived.
- 11/16/2023
- by Joe McGovern
- The Wrap
To be a well-paid anthropologist living in a luxurious Austrohungarian apartment in the center of Zagreb, researching and writing a book on old Slavic traditions - such is the fate of disillusioned Ana (Marija Škaričić), the protagonist of writer/director Dubravka Turić's enigmatic-to-a-fault debut drama Traces. While working on a book, academically accomplished but spiritually unfulfilled, Ana starts noticing symbols and traces that may or may not relate to her life. Cinematographer Damjan Radovanović's carefully composed wide shots convey a feeling that everyday life is filled with meaningful patterns. Unfortunately, narratively and thematically Traces soon delves into the overly familiar territory of European art house cinema - bourgeoise existential crisis. Ana's father (Mate Gulin) is sick and soon dies, an event that pushes her even deeper into a crisis of meaning.
Corrosive modernity looms large over Ana and the world she inhabits. She frequently listens to an audiobook recording of Ts Elliot's.
Corrosive modernity looms large over Ana and the world she inhabits. She frequently listens to an audiobook recording of Ts Elliot's.
- 10/17/2022
- by Amar Komic
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
The Santa Barbara International Film Festival has unveiled its 2015 line-up which includes films representing 54 countries, 23 world premieres and 53 U.S. premieres. The U.S. premiere of Niki Caro’s McFarland USA will close out the 30th fest. Based on the 1987 true story and starring Kevin Costner and Maria Bello, the film follows novice runners from McFarland, an economically challenged town in California’s farm-rich Central Valley, as they give their all to build a cross-country team under the direction of Coach Jim White (Costner), a newcomer to their predominantly Latino high school. The unlikely band of runners overcomes the odds to forge not only a championship cross-country team but an enduring legacy as well.
The festival runs from January 27-February 7.
Below is the list of World and U.S. Premiere films followed by the list of titles by sidebar categories.
World Premieres
A Better You, USA
Directed by Matt Walsh
Cast: Brian Huskey,...
The festival runs from January 27-February 7.
Below is the list of World and U.S. Premiere films followed by the list of titles by sidebar categories.
World Premieres
A Better You, USA
Directed by Matt Walsh
Cast: Brian Huskey,...
- 1/8/2015
- by The Deadline Team
- Deadline
A self-acknowledged "showcase for Academy Award frontrunners," the Santa Barbara International Film Festival is often overlooked for the actual films that earn it festival status. An amalgamation of international discoveries and ’merica’s circuit highlights, the Sbiff curates a week of best-of-the-best to pair with their star-praising. The 2015 edition offers another expansive selection, bookended by two films that aren’t on any radars just yet. Sbiff will open with "Desert Dancer," producer Richard Raymond’s directorial debut. Starring Reece Ritchie and Frieda Pinto, the drama follows a group of friends who wave off the harsh political climate of Iran’s 2009 presidential election in favor of forming a dance team, picking up moves from Michael Jackson, Gene Kelly and Rudolf Nureyev thanks to the magic of YouTube. The festival will close with "McFarland, USA," starring Kevin Costner and Maria Bello. Telling the 1987 true story of a Latino high school’s underdog cross-country team,...
- 1/8/2015
- by Matt Patches
- Hitfix
LOCARNO, Switzerland -- The heartache that accompanies reluctant exile as experienced by three women from the former Yugoslavia underpins Andrea Staka's poignant drama "Das Fraulein", which won the Golden Leopard for best film in competition at the Locarno International Film Festival.
The film is set in Zurich, where one woman from Belgrade, in what is now Serbia, and another from a seaside town in what is now Croatia have spent about 25 years acclimating to life in Switzerland. Their carefully constructed lives are shaken by the arrival of a vivacious young woman from Sarajevo, in what is now Bosnia, who spurns the older pair's cautious way of life. The clash of viewpoints is explored in touching scenes as the three find their assumptions about survival challenged by a jolting reminder of life's unfairness.
Making her feature debut, Swiss-born writer-director Staka, whose parents were Yugoslavian exiles, uses the Zurich locations evocatively, writes in-sightful dialogue and draws naturalistic acting from the principals. The result is a picture that should thrive in Europe and at art houses and suggests a bright future for the filmmaker.
The contrasts be-tween the two older women are established quickly with Ruza (Mirjana Karanovic), the stern and disciplined unmarried owner of a charmless but busy diner, and Mila (Ljubica Jovic), a jovial and happily married waitress.
Both long exiled, Ruza has put Belgrade behind her and is focused on being totally efficient both in her business and her joyless single life, while Mila dreams of retiring to a house on the Adriatic in Croatia.
Into the diner one day comes Ana (Marija Skaricic), who drifts contentedly but proves helpful at the restaurant and is offered a job. Her high spirits and engaging willingness to break the rules, even Ruza's, endear her not only to the others in the place but also to its chilly owner.
Ana brings a refreshing indifference to flags and borders, and her ability to enjoy life proves infectious. All three women begin to embrace life more until fate deals another bad hand.
The scenes of expatriates torn by nostalgic yearning yet determined to make new lives are well drawn, and the sequences in which Ana helps Ruza shake off her inhibitions also have a keen edge.
Skaricic and Jovic show how wisdom and joy are not determined by age. And Karanovic is moving as a woman who has buried both her emotions and any ability to connect with life beyond work until suddenly freed by youthful exuberance.
DAS FRAULEIN
Dschoint Ventschr FilmProduktion
Credits:
Director-screenwriter: Andrea Staka
Producers: Susann Rudlinger, Samir, Mirjam Quinte, Davor Pusic
Director of photography: Igor Martinovic
Production designer: Sue Erdt
Editor: Gion-Reto Killias
Music: Peter von Siebenthal, Till Wyler, Daniel Jakob
Cast:
Ruza: Mirjana Karanovic
Ana: Marija Skaricic
Mila: Ljubica Jovic
Franz: Andrea Zogg
Ante: Zdenko Jelcic
Fredi: Pablo Aguilar
No MPAA rating
Running time -- 81 minutes...
The film is set in Zurich, where one woman from Belgrade, in what is now Serbia, and another from a seaside town in what is now Croatia have spent about 25 years acclimating to life in Switzerland. Their carefully constructed lives are shaken by the arrival of a vivacious young woman from Sarajevo, in what is now Bosnia, who spurns the older pair's cautious way of life. The clash of viewpoints is explored in touching scenes as the three find their assumptions about survival challenged by a jolting reminder of life's unfairness.
Making her feature debut, Swiss-born writer-director Staka, whose parents were Yugoslavian exiles, uses the Zurich locations evocatively, writes in-sightful dialogue and draws naturalistic acting from the principals. The result is a picture that should thrive in Europe and at art houses and suggests a bright future for the filmmaker.
The contrasts be-tween the two older women are established quickly with Ruza (Mirjana Karanovic), the stern and disciplined unmarried owner of a charmless but busy diner, and Mila (Ljubica Jovic), a jovial and happily married waitress.
Both long exiled, Ruza has put Belgrade behind her and is focused on being totally efficient both in her business and her joyless single life, while Mila dreams of retiring to a house on the Adriatic in Croatia.
Into the diner one day comes Ana (Marija Skaricic), who drifts contentedly but proves helpful at the restaurant and is offered a job. Her high spirits and engaging willingness to break the rules, even Ruza's, endear her not only to the others in the place but also to its chilly owner.
Ana brings a refreshing indifference to flags and borders, and her ability to enjoy life proves infectious. All three women begin to embrace life more until fate deals another bad hand.
The scenes of expatriates torn by nostalgic yearning yet determined to make new lives are well drawn, and the sequences in which Ana helps Ruza shake off her inhibitions also have a keen edge.
Skaricic and Jovic show how wisdom and joy are not determined by age. And Karanovic is moving as a woman who has buried both her emotions and any ability to connect with life beyond work until suddenly freed by youthful exuberance.
DAS FRAULEIN
Dschoint Ventschr FilmProduktion
Credits:
Director-screenwriter: Andrea Staka
Producers: Susann Rudlinger, Samir, Mirjam Quinte, Davor Pusic
Director of photography: Igor Martinovic
Production designer: Sue Erdt
Editor: Gion-Reto Killias
Music: Peter von Siebenthal, Till Wyler, Daniel Jakob
Cast:
Ruza: Mirjana Karanovic
Ana: Marija Skaricic
Mila: Ljubica Jovic
Franz: Andrea Zogg
Ante: Zdenko Jelcic
Fredi: Pablo Aguilar
No MPAA rating
Running time -- 81 minutes...
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