As a dedicated supporter of films that challenge societal norms and shed light on overlooked histories, I find myself deeply saddened by the unfortunate situation surrounding Ivona Juka’s masterpiece, “Beautiful Evening Beautiful Day.” The film’s powerful narrative about the oppression of homosexuals under the former communist regime in Yugoslavia resonates with me on a personal level, as I believe that every story deserves to be told and heard.
The creator of Croatia’s Academy Award nominee argues that the movie is being unfairly overlooked by Croatian authorities due to its content, which highlights the suppression of homosexual individuals under the previous communist rule in Yugoslavia, not sitting well with the government.
Ivona Juka’s “Beautiful Evening Beautiful Day” was chosen as Croatia’s entry for the Best International Feature category at the Oscars, with the backing of all 12 Croatian film professional associations. However, funding for promotional activities to showcase the movie to Academy members is considerably less than what was provided last year for Croatia’s previous Oscar contender.
In a somewhat surprising turn of events, the production “Beautiful Evening, Beautiful Day” garnered promotional funding amounting to €69,550 ($73,250). This is significantly less than the budget allocated to Dubravka Turić’s film “Traces” the previous year, a fact worth noting as “Traces” was not even nominated. What’s more, Nebojša Slijepčević’s “The Man Who Could Not Remain Silent”, a strong contender for the Oscar in the category of best live action short film, received a staggering €153,000 ($161,140) for its awards campaign – nearly double the amount given to “Beautiful Evening, Beautiful Day”.
Anita Juka, the producer of our movie, expressed her concerns in a statement. She feels that the reduction in our budget by the Croatian Ministry of Culture and the Croatian Audiovisual Center was deliberately done to hinder our chances in the Oscar race. With less funds available for strategy and advertising, particularly so close to the voting period, we find this situation ludicrous. It’s hard not to notice the significant disparity in how the promotional budget was distributed between a feature film like ours and a short film.
In the black-and-white drama “Gorgeous Sunny Days,” set in the 1950s, we delve into the oppression faced by Yugoslavia’s LGBTQ+ community under the rule of Josip Broz Tito. The story revolves around a band of friends, once university students who transitioned to partisan forces battling the Nazis during WW2, and later became renowned filmmakers. However, their sexual orientations draw unwanted attention, leading to increased scrutiny. Among them is Lovro, a passionate director portrayed by Dado Ćosić, who is exiled to a remote island penal colony, his spirit crushed under the weight of persecution.
The story draws inspiration from actual events involving approximately 500 men who were unfairly persecuted and jailed during Tito’s rule due to their homosexuality. Some of these individuals were transported to Barren Island, a notorious penal colony located in the northern Adriatic Sea, which was initially established to house political prisoners. The Communist Party of Yugoslavia enacted a law criminalizing homosexuality in 1959, but this ban was lifted in Croatia and Slovenia in 1977, and only in the remaining republics after the breakup of Yugoslavia during the 1990s.
Upon contact by The Hollywood Reporter, a representative from the Croatian Audiovisual Center stated that the film’s producers submitted their application for funding awards quite late, and only a limited number of board members had time to watch the movie before approving the grant. The spokesperson mentioned that the amount granted was smaller compared to the previous two years, but it’s uncertain if this reduction in marketing funds impacted the film’s performance at the Oscars, as Croatia has never been nominated for an Academy Award in the best international feature category since its independence in 1991 following the Yugoslav War.
The Croatian Audiovisual Center granted more funding to the film “The Man Who Could Not Remain Silent” due to its recent win of the Palme d’Or for best short at Cannes this year, which is a significant source of national pride in Croatia. The spokesperson added that the producers submitted an extremely persuasive application well in advance.
On a shoestring marketing fund, the movie “Beautiful Evening Beautiful Day” is running an unconventional award-winning strategy. This week, it’s been showcasing the film to Academy members in Los Angeles as part of the campaign.
Director Ivona Juka stated, “Given our budget, we’re struggling just to meet our essential promotional requirements such as hiring a publicist, renting a U.S. cinema, and taking care of travel and lodging expenses. We can hardly think about advertising at this point.” She added, “It’s disappointing when equality isn’t reciprocated, especially since the theme of our film revolves around equality.
On December 17, the Academy plans to reveal the list of global candidates for the feature category. The nominees for these prestigious Oscars will be declared on January 17. The 97th Academy Awards ceremony is scheduled for March 3.
You can check out the trailer for Beautiful Evening Beautiful Day below.
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2024-12-05 12:54