Croatian Oscar Candidate Scoops Film Award in Portugal

Croatian feature film Vegetarian Cannibal directed by Branko Schmidt  has won the Best Direction Award at the 28th Festroia International Film Festival in Setubal (Portugal). At the same time, it’s main star Rene Bitorajac won the Best Actor Award at Fantastic Fest in Austin (Texas) for his role of a corrupted doctor in Schmidt’s film.

Vegetarian Cannibal, produced by Telefilm, will represent Croatian cinema in the selection process of the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for Oscar award in the Best Foreign Film category. The nominations for this prestigious American film award will be announced on 15 January 2013.

In Vegetarian Cannibal, Danko Babic (Bitorajac) is an ambitious and amoral gynaecologist at Croatia’s leading fertility clinic. When his colleague Bantic is appointed as head of the clinic, Babic starts a secret war to overthrow his rival. Distracted by his ruthless campaign he makes series of fatal mistakes that result in the death of a patient. A crooked coroner and a corrupt police officer cover up his misdeeds, while Babic grows increasingly dependant on drugs and alcohol. He begins performing illegal abortions on prostitutes who work for Jedinko, a gangster who controls the local drug and sex trade. When a prostitute dies following a botched abortion, the police become suspicious but Babic’s dodgy contacts save him once again by destroying evidence.

Watch the trailer here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gMOjFZ8U_-w