Top 200 Most Anticipated Films for 2014: #152. Jasmila Zbanic’s Love Island

Love Island

Director: Jasmila Zbanic
Writers: Aleksandar Hemon, Jasmila Zbanic
Producers: Deblokada Produkcija, Komplizen Film, Okofilm Productions, Ziva Produkcija
U.S. Distributor: Rights Available
Cast: Ariane Labed, Franco Nero, Ada Condeescu, Leon Lucev

We’re ecstatic to see Bosnian director Jasmila Zbanic working so frequently. 2013 saw the premiere of For Those Who Can Tell No Tales in Toronto, and now she’s already wrapping up her fifth film, Love Island. Zbanic has assembled a rather intriguing cast, including Greek actress Ariane Labed, winner of the Best Actress award in Venice 2010 for Attenberg (she’s also appeared in Lanthimos’ ALPS and Linklater’s Before Midnight) and Romanian actress Ada Condeescu from Loverboy and If I Want to Whistle, I Whistle. And oh, yeah, Franco Nero. The project received some bad news back in 2011 when it was rejected by the Cinema Fund of the Ministry of Culture of Bosnia and Herzegovina because it’s script was deemed to be ‘promoting pedophilia.’ Tsk, tsk, that sounds like the kind of repression that’s stopped a number of film projects. Thankfully, Zbanic moved the project to Croatia where it went on to receive funding from multiple sources.

Gist: Love Island tells the story of a pregnant French woman who lives in Sarajevo with her Bosnian husband and their daughter. They go for a vacation at a Croatian island, where things get complicated when they all become attracted to a beautiful woman.br>

Release Date: Zbanic won the Golden Bear in Berlin back in 2006 for Esma’s Secret – Grabavica. We’re wondering if she doesn’t snag a Cannes slot this time around.

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