BRANKA
by Ákos K. Kovács

20min | Hungary | 2021

Yugoslavia, 1991.
Far away from the war zones, Branka gets a job at a maternity ward of a state hospital. The young woman is all alone, but it turns out loneliness is not the hardest burden Branka has to carry. Newborns are disappearing from the hospital.
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Year of production 2021
Length 20min
Country Hungary
Shooting Format Digital
Aspect Ratio 2:1
Dialogue Serbian, Bosnian, Hungarian

Director Ákos K. Kovács
Producer Gábor Osváth, Zsuzsi Gyurin
Production Salamandra Film, Filmfabriq
Co-Director Tamás Oláh
Writer Ákos K. Kovács, Tamás Oláh
Cinematographer Levente Tóth
Editor Dániel Márton
Production Designer Selena Orb
Sound Levente Markos
Cast Dina Mušanović, Dorottya Antóci, Nenad Pećinar, Natália Vicei

Festival selections
Krakow Film Festival 2021, Poland - World Premiere
Friss Hús Budapest International Short Film Festival 2021, Hungary
European Film Festival Palić 2021, Serbia
BuSho (Budapest Short) 2021, Hungary - Student Jury Best Fiction, BuSho Award 2021 - Prize of Szeged 
Courts d'un soir - Montreal International Short Film Festival 2021, Canada
Sedicicorto International Film Festival 2021, Italy
​Batumi International Art-House Film Festival 2021, Georgia
FEST - New Directors/New Films Festival 2021, Portugal
El Gouna Film Festival 2021, Egypt
Tehran International Short Film Festival 2021, Iran
​​Linea d'Ombra Festival - CortoEuropa Competition 2021, Italy - Special Jury Award, Audience Award
Film Front - International Short Film Festival 2021, Serbia
Soria International Short Film Fest 2021, Spain - Best Short Film Award, Best Actress Award
Castellinaria Film Festival Bellinzona 2021, Switzerland
​Izmir International Short Film Festival 2021, Turkey
Istanbul Golden Film Festival 2021, Turkey
Pittsburgh Shorts 2021, USA
INTERFILM - International Shortfilm Festival Berlin 2021, Germany - ​Best Short Film Award (Confrontations Competition)
Ce l'ho Corto Film Festival 2021, Italy - Best Short Film Award (Kinocorto Competition), Best Soundtrack Award 
Longue vue sur le court 2021, Canada
Lakiteleki Filmszemle 2021, Hungary - ​Best Short Film Award, Audience Award
Euroshorts Young Filmmakers 2021, Poland - Marshal of the Pomorskie Voivodeship Award​, Best Fiction Film
​​International Documentary and Short Film Festival of Kerala 2021, India
​Music & Cinema - Festival International du Film à Marseille 2022, France
International Film Festival ZOOM - ZBLIZENIA 2022, Poland - Jury Special Prize
Semana de Cine de Medina del Campo 2022, Spain
Karama Yemen Human Rights Film Festival 2022
ClujShorts International Short Film Festival 2022, Romania - Best Cinematography Award
Movies That Matter Festival 2022, Netherlands
​Martovski Festival - Belgrade Documentary and Short Film Festival 2022, Serbia
Go Short - International Short Film Festival Nijmegen 2022, Netherlands
Landshut Short Film Festival 2022, Germany
​Grenzland-Filmtage Selb International Film Festival 2022, Germany
​South East European Film Festival Los Angeles 2022, USA
Short Shorts Film Festival & Asia 2022, Japan
Leiria Film Fest 2022, Portugal
​​In The Palace International Short Film Festival 2022, Bulgaria
​Philosophical Film Festival 2022, Republic of North Macedonia - Audience Award
Figari Film Fest 2022, Italy 
ShorTS - International Film Festival 2022, Italy
Vukovar Film Festival 2022, Croatia
Social World Film Festival 2022, Italy​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​
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Director's Statement
The film is based on many true stories. It was a scary realization for me that everyone around me from the older generation in Serbia knew about the child abducting stories. They just simply didn’t talk about it. This great common silence began to interest me. This was the origin for the story of 'Branka'.