Zagreb Film Festival’s main competition features a beautiful and universal tale of young lovers who defy the rules and risk everything to be together. Tanna, the first ever feature film made in its entirety in the South Pacific, starring non-professional Vanuatu people as actors, has already won the Audience Award in Venice for best film.
In 2013 documentary directors Bentley Dean and Martin Butler spent seven months on the island of Tanna, part of the volcanic Vanuatu Islands, among the native population in the village of Yakel. One day the tribe members sang a touching song about two lovers who some 20 years ago took a stand against the ancient laws and changed the island rules of arranged marriages forever. Inspired by the song, Dean and Butler took the story to the big screen, with the help of the natives who starred in the film – even though for some this was the very first encounter with the medium. The result is a unique and visually opulent experience that blends two completely different cultures together.
Zagreb Film Festival’s audience will have a chance to enjoy this unique film experience in three slots at Europa and Tuškanac cinemas.