First Croatian sci-fi children’s movie scoops award in India 

My grandpa fell from Mars

ZAGREB, 3 February 2020 – Croatia’s first science fiction film for children, “My grandpa fell from Mars”, directed by multiple award-winning duo Drazen Zarkovic and Marina Andree Skop, has won yet another award. 

The film, which is a heartfelt story about friendship, love and honesty, won its 13th award at the Calcutta International Cult Film Festival, where it was awarded Best Family/Children’s Film, the Croatian Audiovisual Centre (HAVC) said. 

The feature-length film is about Una, a little girl whose life changes in a second after her grandfather is abducted by aliens. In the basement of her house, she discovers that he himself is an alien whose spaceship crashed long ago. The ship’s pilot, the small morose robot Dodo, has also stayed on Earth. Dodo and Una have less than 24 hours to find and rescue her grandfather. The screenplay was based on Irena Krcelic’s story. 

The film premiered last year at the International Film Festival for Children, KinoKino, followed by its international premiere at FIFEM – Montreal International Children’s Film Festival. 

It has won a number of awards, including Best Narrative Feature at FICLAPAZ – La Paz International Film Festival, Best Feature Film at Flicks Film Festival in Great Britain and best film for children at the Near Nazareth Festival in Israel. 

My grandpa fell from Mars

It also won the European Children’s Film Association (ECFA) award at the Olympia International Children and Youth Film Festival in Greece, which earned it an ECFA nomination for Best European Children’s Film. For her acting debut, Lana Hranjec won the award for Best Actress at the SciFi Film Festival Sydney, while Darija Kulenovic Gudan and Marina Andree Skop received awards for Best Producers at the already mentioned Flicks Film Festival.