Growly bear

DENI ZGONJANIN
Director and screenwriter Deni Zgonjanin (1988), born and raised in Zagreb, started his filmmaking journey in 2017. His short experimental film „Then Mommy and Daddy“ got selected for screening by two national film festivals. Then he took a break from all the hard work. During that time, he enrolled into the Palunko screenwriting school where he sought to hone his writing skills – and despite never finishing his formal education, he nevertheless kept writing on a daily basis! He also directed and shot a music video for local singer-songwriter End or Fin, a lengthy promo video for the Festival of the European Short Story and resumed his work on the Croatian pub quiz scene, as one-third of the organizational team behind the quiz KRiP and other popular and record-breaking quizzes that came before it. Oh, and he also co-created FAK.hr, one of the most popular regional film pages of its time, that was sadly shut down a couple of years ago due to a lack of funding. Now, after having finished „Growly Bear“, his second short movie that was initially supposed to be his fourth one, he is simultaneously working on two short films that were originally intended to be his second and third ones. Confused? So is he. But happy nonetheless, since he never thought he would be looking forward to the prospect of having four movies under his belt.

IVAN MIHALJEVIĆ
Ivan Mihaljević was born on December 8., 2000. in Zagreb. After elementary school, he finished a Zagreb-based School of Economics and simultaneously attended primary and secondary music school as a violin player. He started doing photography while he was just a boy and the hobby eventually evolved into a full-fledged passion for shooting various videos and short movies. His successful collaborations include, but are not limited to, filming concerts performed by Zagreb Soloists and shooting numerous theater plays and other events set up by the National University, Dubrava. Thanks to the latter, he started running film workshops that were part of the International Children's Festival in Šibenik at the age of 16. Apart from that, he filmed a substantial number of commercials and promo videos. Some of his early works, including Egyptian director Adel Said's short movie called „Donna“ which revolves around the emotional relationship between two women, received several awards in Egypt, India etc. One of Ivan's most recent works is the short film „Brundina“, based on a script by Deni Zgonjanin. Genre-wise, „Brundina“ could easily be characterized as a psychological thriller and a drama, an ideal opportunity for Ivan to showcase his attained knowledge and filming experience, as well as to visually tell the story in accordance with Zgonjanin's detailed and skillful directions. Ivan is currently preparing an independent photography exhibition which is due to open in January 2021.