Croatian film wins Palme d’Or at Cannes for first time

Danijel Pek, Goran Bogdan, Nebojsa Slijepcevic, Katarina Prpic (Photo: Remi Lesueur)

ZAGREB, May 25 – The Croatian short film The Man Who Could Not Stay Silent (Čovjek koji nije mogao šutjeti), directed and written by Nebojša Slijepčević and produced by Katarina Prpić and Danijel Pek (Antitalent), has won the Palme d’Or (Golden Palm) in the Short Film Competition at the 77th Cannes Film Festival, one of the most significant and prestigious festivals in the world.

Director and screenwriter Nebojša Slijepčević accepted the award live at the official ceremony in Cannes. 

This marks the first Palme d’Or for a Croatian film since independence. 

The film was produced by Katarina Prpić and Danijel Pek from Antitalent and was realized in co-production with companies from Bulgaria, France, and Slovenia.

The best short film title was chosen by a jury comprising: jury president, Belgian actress Lubna Azabal, French director, screenwriter, and producer Marie-Castille Mention-Schaar, Italian film programmer Paolo Moretti, French producer and director Claudine Nougaret, and Serbian director and screenwriter Vladimir Perišić.

Accepting the award at the ceremony, screenwriter and director Nebojša Slijepčević thanked his entire film crew, receiving thunderous applause from the audience.

The film had its world premiere on Friday, May 25, in the Debussy theater, with the film crew in attendance. The Man Who Could Not Stay Silent by Nebojša Slijepčević is the first Croatian film since independence to win the Palme d’Or and only the second to compete for it.

Nebojša Slijepčević previously won the DOC Alliance Award at Cannes in 2018 for his feature documentary Srbenka. The production company Antitalent has celebrated success at Cannes before with Antoneta Alamat Kusijanović’s feature debut Murina, which won the Camera d’Or in 2021. 

Alexis Manenti, Goran Bogdan, Nebojsa Slijepcevic, Silvio Mumelas, Dragan Micanovic (Photo: Remi Lesueur)

Additionally, Dalibor Matanić’s film Zvizdan achieved great success at this prestigious festival, being named the best film in the Un Certain Regard program in 2015.

The plot of The Man Who Could Not Stay Silent takes place on February 27, 1993, at a small station in Štrpci, Bosnia and Herzegovina. A passenger train on the Belgrade-Bar line is stopped by paramilitary forces conducting an ethnic cleansing operation. 

While they lead away innocent civilians, only one of the five hundred passengers dares to oppose them. This is the true story of a man who could not stay silent.

The screenplay, based on true events, was written by director Nebojša Slijepčević. The cast includes Goran Bogdan, Alexis Manenti, Dragan Mićanović, Silvio Mumelaš, Lara Nekić, Priska Ugrina, Dušan Gojić, Nebojša Pop Tasić, Mijo Pavelko, Martin Kuhar, Jakov Zovko, and Robert Ugrina.

Čovjek koji nije mogao šutjeti

The Man Who Could Not Stay Silent was produced under the auspices of Antitalent. The co-producers are Katya Trichkova (Contrast Films, Bulgaria), Noëlle Lévénez (Les Films Norfolk, France), and Boštjan Virc (Studio Virc, Slovenia).

The film was made with the support of the Croatian Audiovisual Centre. The film’s sales representative is the French company Manifest.