Croatia
27′48″, 2020.
DIRECTED BY
Ljiljana Mandić
PRODUCED BY
Croatian Radiotelevision, Tihomir Štivičić, ed. Aleksej Pavlovsky
SCRIPTWRITER
Ljiljana Mandić, Aleksej Pavlovsky
CINEMATOGRAPHER
Tomislav Trumbetaš
EDITED BY
Damir Đurčević
CONTACT
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Today the customs related to the Catholic holidays of All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day in the region around the small town of Novi Marof, in Northwestern Croatia, are celebrated almost the same as anywhere else. However, in living memory of the older inhabitants there are still some traditional customs practiced during the 1960s and even earlier, such as the making of wreaths from flowers or crepe paper, a festive lunch, or the custom of gathering and socializing of young people in the graveyard in the evening. Specifically interesting was the custom of leaving food and drinks on the festive table overnight, from November 1 to November 2, for the souls of the deceased, who, according to the traditional belief, would come by that night to their old homes.

Ljiljana Mandić was born in 1962. She graduated from the Zagreb Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences in 1985. In 1986 she began her career at the Croatian Television as assistant director in the Education and Documentary desk. Since 1992 she has been working as a film director and has created around 120 films over the course of twelve years.