EXCLUSIVE: New Europe Film Sales has boarded Croatian director and screenwriter Hana Jušić’s drama God Will Not Help ahead of its world premiere in competition at the Locarno Film Festival in August.
It is Jušić’s second solo feature film after multi-award-winning 2016 debut Quit Staring at My Plate, on which New Europe also handled sales. Jušić’s other credits include the collective work Transmania and short films Terrarium (Terarij) and No Wolf Has A House.
Set in the early 20th century, God Will Not Help revolves around the arrival of Chilean woman Teresa in a structured and isolated mountain community of Croatian shepherds, claiming to be the widow of their émigré brother.
Her presence disrupts the dynamic of the close-knit community, sparking unrest but also bringing unexpected freedom.
God Will Not Help was among 17 titles announced on Tuesday as having been selected for Locarno’s International Competition alongside pictures such as Ben Rivers’ Mare’s Nest, Radu Jude’s Dracula and Abdellatif Kechiche’s Mektoub, My Love: Canto Due.
Chilean actress and director Manuela Martelli (Machuca, Il Futuro) stars as Teresa. The movie marks the first big screen role in five years for Martelli, who also enjoyed acclaim for her feature directorial debut 1976 in 2022.
Further cast members include Ana Marija Veselčić, Filip Đurić, Mauro Ercegović Gracin and Nikša Butijer.
The movie is lead produced by Ankica Jurić Tilić (Sandbag Dam) at Croatian company Kinorama.
Co-Producers are Ada Solomon and Diana Caravia at MicroFILM (Romania); Ines Vasiljević and Stefano Sardo at Nightswim (Italy); Didar Domehri at Maneki Films (France); Yorgos Tsourgiannis at Horsefly Films (Greece) as well as Aleš Pavlin and Andrej Štritof at Perfo Production (Slovenia).
The feature was made with the financial support of the Croatian Audiovisual Centre, Slovenian Film Centre and Viba Film Studio, Romania’s National Cinema Centre, France’s National Cinema Centre, Italy’s Ministry of Culture as well as Greece’s Greek Film Centre and state broadcaster ERT.
Quit Staring at My Plate world premiered in Venice’s parallel Giornate degli Autori GdA sidebar, where it won the Fedeora Best Euro-Mediterranean Film prize in Venice. It was the first of a string of awards which also included Best Director for Jušić at the Tokyo Film Festival.
“We are excited to continue our collaboration with Hana, who is a really exciting voice among European directors working today,” said New Europe Film Sales head Jan Naszewski.
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