A Chilean woman, Teresa, comes into a firmly structured and isolated mountain community of Croatian shepherds in the early 20th century, claiming to be the widow of their émigré brother. Her arrival changes the dynamics between the members of the community and brings unrest, but also inspiration for other women.

God Will Not Help is the new film by Croatian director Hana Jušić, the world premiere of which is taking place in competition at the upcoming Locarno Film Festival (6-16 August).

Jušić says, "In this film, I wanted to explore what true human solidarity and empathy might mean within the framework of rigid value systems that are based on the feverish desire either to belong or possess."

Jušić made a splash with her feature debut Quit Staring at My Plate [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Hana Jušić
scheda film], which world-premiered in competition in Venice's Giornate degli Autori, where it received the Fedeora Award for Best European Film, and was then selected for Warsaw's 1-2 Competition, where it received a special mention. The film also received accolades in many other festivals such as Valladolid's Seminci, Zagreb, Sofia, Pula and Palić, before being chosen as the Croatian Oscar submission.

The film stars Chilean actress Manuela Martelli (whose first feature as a director 1976 was selected in Cannes' Directors' Fortnight), Ana Marija Veselčić, Filip Đurić, Mauro Ercegović Gracin and Nikša Butijer. The main producer of the film is Ankica Jurić Tilić for her Croatian company Kinorama, and the co-producers are Ada Solomon (for Romania’s Micro Film), Didar Domehri (for France’s Maneki Films), Yorgos Tsourgiannis (for Greece’s Horsefly), Aleš Pavlin and Andrej Štritof (for Slovenia’s Perfo), and Ines Vasiljević (for Italy’s Nightswim). International sales are handled by Poland's New Europe Film Sales.

Check out our exclusive poster below: