ZAGREB: Croatian director/writer Filip Mojzeš has entered postproduction with his debut feature The First Week of August / Prvi tjedan u kolovozu, a Croatian/Polish coproduction backed by the Croatian Audiovisual Centre (HAVC) and the Polish Film Institute.
The story follows a family whose summer holiday gradually becomes a space for confronting suppressed traumas and hidden tensions. After experiencing psychological trauma, the mother unexpectedly physically attacks her ten-year-old son. During their stay in a picturesque Mediterranean setting, the complex web of family relationships, suppressed conflicts and personal issues, slowly begins to unravel.
The leading roles are played by Ivana Roščić, Jerko Marčić and Roko Peševski, with Ivana Krizmanić, Marko Makovičić, Bruno Ceglec, Marta Mihanović, Jakov Bilić, Damir Orlić and Andrija Tomić in supporting roles.
“It’s the kind of film that relies on a specific, hidden tension. Not much is said, yet a great deal is at stake in the relationship between the mother and her son. I wanted to make the atmosphere as claustrophobic as possible by using the 4:3 aspect ratio and allowing a significant amount of dialogue to take place off-screen. Ultimately, this is a film about oppression”, Filip Mojzeš told FNE.
The film was shot on locations on the island of Pag, in Prizna, Zagreb, and on locations in Slovenia between September 2025 and June 2026.
“I also wanted to make a film set in the Mediterranean, in which the coastline would not be treated as a romantic backdrop, as it usually is. I wanted to present it as naked, cold, and dystopian. If you remember the famous Australian beach featured on the theatrical poster for Haneke’s The Seventh Continent, that’s the image I was looking for, the stage on which to expose all the horror of the contemporary nuclear family”, Mojzeš added.
The film is produced by Tamara Babun Zovko and Matija Drniković of Croatia’s Wolfgang & Dolly in coproduction with Kamil Rutkowski of Poland’s Black Photon with the support of the Croatian Audiovisual Centre (HAVC) and the Polish Film Institute.
The service producer is Danijel Hočevar from Slovenian company Vertigo. The line producer is Aleksandar Arsovski.
The First Week of August has already been presented within the Les Arcs Work in Progress industry programme, and is also taking part in First Cut Lab and Pula Pro – Work in Progress.
Filip Mojzes is a film director and screenwriter from Zagreb, Croatia. He earned his BA degree in film directing from the Academy of Dramatic Arts in Zagreb and his MA degree from the Sarajevo Film Factory, where his mentor was the acclaimed Hungarian director Béla Tarr. His last four films premiered in the competition programme at the Sarajevo Film Festival, screened in numerous national and international festivals and won several awards.
Production Information:
Producer:
Wolfgang & Dolly (Croatia)
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Coproducer:
Black Photon (Poland)
Credits:
Director: Filip Mojzeš
Writer: Filip Mojzeš
DoP: Gregor Božič
Editor: Dora Slakoper
Composer: Nikola Krgović
Production designer: Tajana Čanić Stanković
Costume designer: Dubravka Skvrce
Make-up artist: Mojca Gorogranc Petruševska
Sound: Hrvoje Radnić
Gaffer: Aleksa Grujić
Key grip: Blaž Jelnikar
Cast: Ivana Roščić, Jerko Marčić, Roko Peševski, Ivana Krizmanić, Marko Makovičić, Bruno Ceglec, Marta Mihanović, Jakov Bilić, Damir Orlić, Andrija Tomić
