''Safe Place'' ( hr, Sigurno mjesto, links=no) is a 2022 Croatian family drama film written and directed by Juraj Lerotić as his debut. The film star
Juraj Lerotić
as Bruno, Goran Marković as Damir and Snježana Sinovčić Šiškov as Mother. ''Safe Place'' had its world premiere at the

75th Locarno Film Festival The 75th annual Locarno Festival opened on 3 August 2022 in Locarno, Switzerland with film ''Bullet Train'' by David Leitch. The 75th edition of Locarno Film Festival celebrated as diamond jubilee edition screened 226 films including 105 world p ...

on 6 August 2022, as a part of 'Concorso Cineasti del presente' program and won three prizes: Juraj Lerotić Award for Best Emerging Director Award of the City and Region of Locarno Goran Marković Award for Best Actor (Pardo for Best Actor), Best Debut Feature Film (Swatch First Feature Award). ''Safe Place'' was selected by the Croatian Society of Film Professionals as the Croatian candidate for the Best International Feature Film category at the

95th Academy Awards The 95th Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), will honor films released in 2022, and is scheduled to take place at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles, California on March 12, 2023. Comed ...

in September 2022. Juraj Lerotić won The "Vladimir Nazor Award'' by the Republic of Croatia for outstanding artistic achievements in film. The European Film Academy Board has selected the film for a European Film Award nomination.

Plot

''Safe Place'' follows the two brothers and their mother (character actress Snježana Sinovičić Šiškov), who comes into the picture over the course of the next 24 hours. During that period of time, Bruno and the mother have to protect Damir not just from himself, but also from the unsympathetic system consisting of rude and suspicious members of the police and the robotic, sometimes even arrogant medical personnel. The safe place they want to reach in every sense of the word proves to be quite elusive.

Production

The film received financial support from the Croatian Audiovisual Centre, the Croatian Radiotelevision and the Slovenian Film Centre. In addition, the film won the Eurimages Development Award at the CineLink Co-production Market of the Sarajevo Film Festival. Safe Place is produced by a Zagreb based production company Pipser, with Miljenka Čogelja as producer and Zelena zraka (Saša Ban and Nevenka Sablić) as the Croatian co-production partner. The film was created in collaboration with Slovenian production December (Vlado Bulajić i Lija Pogačnik).

Release

"The film was nationally distributed and sold in the seven territories so far: *Serbia - released in February 2023, *Montenegro: released February 2023, *Slovenia: release - September 2023, *Turkey: release - September 2023, *Taiwan: release - October 2023, *The Netherlands: release - summer 2023, *Portugal: late December 2023/early January 2024 VOD Safe Place is screened at HBO (covering the following territories: Albania, Czech Republic, Slovak Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Moldova, Croatia, Slovenia, Serbia, Kosovo, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Macedonia, Bulgaria - Payv TV & SVOD) from the 1st of June 2023, it is also available in Spain via Filmin as well as Australia via SBS on demand."

Critical response and awards

Both Croatian and foreign critics, professionals, public figures, and audiences wrote about the film. Many international critics have called Lerotić's debut the film of the year, including Byron Burton, a journalist for

The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film industry, film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade pap ...

and editor of the blog Award Focus. Guy Lodge of

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

, Carmen Gray of

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

and a

Berlinale The Berlin International Film Festival (german: Internationale Filmfestspiele Berlin), usually called the Berlinale (), is a major international film festival held annually in Berlin, Germany. Founded in 1951 and originally run in June, the festi ...

selector, and John Bleasdale, a blogger and critic for

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...

, also included Safe Place among the top ten films of 2022 global production. Safe Place was also listed among the best films of 2022 by

Sight and Sound ''Sight and Sound'' (also spelled ''Sight & Sound'') is a British monthly film magazine published by the British Film Institute (BFI). It conducts the well-known, once-a-decade ''Sight and Sound'' Poll of the Greatest Films of All Time, ongoing ...

, a British magazine published by the

British Film Institute The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves film-making and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, ...

and appeared on the numerous top lists of the best films of 2022 by Croatian critics, such as the Top List of Films in 2022 - Croatian Critics. In addition, Safe Place was selected among the top 10 film favorites of 2022 on the Festival Scope streaming platform for film professionals. After a screening at the

Locarno Film Festival The Locarno Film Festival is an annual film festival, held every August in Locarno, Switzerland. Founded in 1946, the festival screens films in various competitive and non-competitive sections, including feature-length narrative, documentary, s ...

, the selectors stated that Safe Place was undoubtedly one of the most successful and best-chosen films of the year at the festival. ''Safe Place'' was the winner at the 2022

Sarajevo Film Festival The Sarajevo Film Festival is the premier and largest film festival in Southeast Europe, and is one of the largest film festivals in Europe. It was founded in Sarajevo in 1995 during the siege of Sarajevo in the Bosnian War, and brings internation ...

, winning the Heart of Sarajevo prize for best feature film as well as Heart of Sarajevo for best male role to Juraj Lerotić; CICAE Award given by the International Confederation of Art Cinemas for best film in the feature film category; Best Actor at the Euro-Balkan Film Festival; Cineuropa Award by the portal of the same name dedicated to European cinema and its creators. The film has been screened at 70 world festivals and won a total of 48 awards at various European and World film festivals. Of particular note is its screening at the prestigious New Directors/New Films festival in April 2023, at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) and the

Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts (also simply known as Lincoln Center) is a complex of buildings in the Lincoln Square neighborhood on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. It has thirty indoor and outdoor facilities and is host to 5 millio ...

in New York.

References

{{reflist Croatian drama films 2023 drama films Films about mother–son relationships Films about brothers