THE VOICE

Director Ognjen Sviličić is available for interviews.

After showing his critically-acclaimed feature film “These are the Rules” in 2014, Croatian writer-director Ognjen Sviličić returns to Busan International Film Festival with THE VOICE (Glas). The film will celebrate its world premiere in the World Cinema section.

THE VOICE is a film about the 17-year old Goran confronted with the unquestioned religious practices at a Catholic boarding school. In this community where everyone hears God, Goran is the only one who can’t.

When Goran arrives at the new school, he immediately feels suffocated by the religious believes and rituals imposed on him. He is convinced that you should not believe in something that is forced upon you. Even after everyone turns against him, he stands firm and won’t convert. Until he finds out that even if you don’t believe in God, He can help you in times of need.

Writer-Director Ognjen Sviličić’s credits include the celebrated film “Armin” (2007). After its world premiere in Berlinale Forum the film screened at more than 100 international film festivals and won more than twenty awards, amongst them the East of the West Award at Karlovy Vary International Film Festival and the FIPRESCI Award for Best Foreign Film at Palm Springs. “These are the Rules” (2014) was nominated for the Orizzonti Award at Venice International Film Festival where his main actor Emir Hadzihafizbegović won the Orizzonti Award for Best Actor. At Warsaw International Film Festival 2005, Sviličić won the Grand Prix for his comic drama “Sorry for Kung Fu” (2004). As a scriptwriter he worked with Slovenian director Damjan Kozole for the acclaimed films “Slovenian girl” (2009) and “Nightlife” (2016). Furthermore, he wrote regional box office hits like “We will be the World Champions” by Darko Bajić (2015) and has created popular Croatian TV series. The director is also teaching screenwriting at the Academy of Dramatic Arts in Zagreb.

After successfully working together for films like “Armin” and “These are the Rules”, Sviličić again teamed-up with Damir Terešak. The Croatian producer’s slate contains the well-received “When day breaks” (2012) by Goran Paskaljević which premiered at Toronto International Film Festival 2012 as part of its Masters program, “The Eighth Commissioner” (2018) by Ivan Salaj and “The Enemy” (2011) by Dejan Zečević. Co-producers of THE VOICE are Tomi Salkovski and Nikolina Vučetić Zečević. The script was co-written by Marijana Verhoef.

For the lead role in THE VOICE Ognjen Sviličić chose newcomers Franko Jakovčević and Belma Salkunić. The film also features the regional star Goran Bogdan “Agape” (2017), also known for his performance in the TV drama “Fargo” (2017) and Igor Kovač whose track record includes Tomislav Radić’s “Kotlovina” (2011) – a big winner at the 2011 Pula Film Festival – and “Kosac” (2014) by Zvonimir Jurić (Best Supporting Actor, Pula Film Festival 2014).

THE VOICE is produced by MaXima Film, Skopje Film Studio, Biberche Productions with financial support by the Croatian Audiovisual Centre, North Macedonia Film Agency, Film Centre Serbia, Ministry of Culture and Information of the Republic of Serbia, and Croatian Radiotelevision.

Production Company:
Maxima film d.o.o. | Damir Terešak  | www.maxima-film.hr