Hana Jušić’s Debut Wins Another Award: ‘Plate’ Gets Special Mention in Warsaw

Hana Jušić’s feature fiction debut Quit Staring at My Plate has won a special mention at the recently closed 32nd edition of Warsaw Film Festival. The film screened in the official selection of first and second films, competing along with 15 other feature titles.

The world premiere took place early in September at Venice Days, part of the 73rd Venice International Film Festival, winning a FEDEORA Award for the best European film in the selection. After Venice, the film screened at Reykjavik International Film Festival and Vancouver International Film Festival. Late in October, the film travels to Japan, to Tokyo Film Festival, and its Croatian premiere is scheduled for mid-November, in the 14th Zagreb Film Festival’s competition.

Croatian film critics included Quit Staring at My Plate  among the finest works in the past ten years, praising the portrayal of ‘silent, subdued terror of the family circle’ which ‘stems deep from the Mediterranean and Dalmatian anthropology and culture’ (Jurica Pavičić). Critic Vittoria Scarpa (Cineuropa) writes about the Plate: “The young Croatian director is using brutal realism, seasoned with dark humour moments in order to accentuate the dynamics in a dysfunctional family, whose relationships are complex and contradictory and not even day trips and ice-cream outings can go without heated arguments.”

The film was written and directed by Hana Jušić, starring Mia Petričević, Arijana Čulina, Zlatko Burić and Nikša Butijer. The producer is Ankica Jurić Tilić with Kinorama in co-production with Beofilm (Denmark) and Croatian Radio Television.