Kino Lorber has dropped a trailer for “Murina,” the coming-of-age drama from Croatian filmmaker Antoneta Alamat Kusijanovic that won the Camera d’Or award for best first feature at Cannes Film Festival last year.
Set on a remote island on the Croatian Adriatic coast, the film follows 17-year-old Julija (Gracija Filipović), who spends much of her time diving for eels, and longing for independence from her domineering father. As we see in the trailer, when a foreign businessman arrives, Julija welcomes his attention — though at risk of angering her father, who is trying to strike a deal with the man.
Kusijanovic directed from a script she wrote with Frank Graziano, based on her short film “Into the Blue,” which won awards at Berlin International Film Festival, Sarajevo Film Festival, and elsewhere.
In an interview with us, she described the film as “sensual and violent, the adults are coming of age, and a teenage girl between them is struggling to find a savior, an anchor among them.” She added, “it was important for me to portray both the [evolution] and the constraints we experience while growing into ourselves.”
“Murina” will be released in New York on July 8, followed by an L.A. rollout on July 15. The film has also scored U.K. and Ireland distribution, with Modern Films.
