ON THE BIG SCREEN:
»God Will Not Help«
Feature Film, HR / RO / IT / GR / FR / SI 2025, 137’, Director: Hana Jušic, OV with English subtitles
Followed by a Q&A with actress Manuela Martelli, moderated by Dr Maxa Zöller (artistic director IFFF Dortmund+Köln)
The new Croatian talent Hana Jušic (»Quit Staring at My Plate«, »The Last Socialist Artefact«) takes a stand against the growing nationalist-religious movement in the region with this remarkable historical drama. The film was awarded Best International Feature Film at the IFFF Dortmund+Köln 2026.
The wind lashes across the Dalmatian mountains sometime around the turn of the century. A mysterious figure emerges from the darkness. Teresa is both a stranger and a part of the family she has come searching for. She has traveled from Chile to the homeland of her late husband, Marco, to lay his bones to rest. In a valley, she meets his sister, the shepherdess Milena, and together they set out into the mountains to inform Marco’s family of his death. A fragile bond develops between the two women, sustained by shared glances, gestures, daily labor, and an unguarded closeness from which a language of their own gradually emerges.
With rigorous formal control and unwavering patience, Hana Jušić tells a story of female solidarity that feels timeless.
The jury awarding the IFFF’s Best International Feature Film prize stated: “With outstanding direction and a cinematic language of great precision and clarity, the film masterfully combines the genres of historical drama, suspense, and psychological thriller, all through an uncompromising female gaze.”
Manuela Martelli played the lead role in the Chilean feature film B-Happy by Gonzalo Justiniano at the age of 18, for which she won the award for Best Actress at the 2004 Havana Festival of Latin American Cinema. Martelli has appeared in more than fifteen co-productions in Chile, Argentina, Bolivia, Italy, Germany, and the United States. Her performance in »God Will Not Help« earned her the award for Best Acting Performance at the Locarno Film Festival. In 2026, her directorial debut, »The Meltdown«, premiered at the Cannes Film Festival.
