Now in its fifth year, the Tabor International Short Film Festival
(10-14 July 2007) under director Nenad Borovcek has been on the move
since its founding. The first TIFF was held in nearby Komrovec, the
birthplace of Marshall Tito. Converted into a museum village to depict
life in Croatia during the 19th century, Komrovec is one of Croatia's
major tourist attraction. When the crowds were just too plentiful for
Komrovec, the festival moved to Tabor Castle, a massive edifice built
in the 12th century and said to be a place of magic. As the legend
goes, it was here that Veronica, a beautiful peasant girl from the
nearby village of Desinic, was killed by the cruel lord of the castle
for eloping with his son. Ever since, Veronica's ghost haunts the
castle, her moans sometimes heard on cold winter nights when the wind
howls through the rafters.

The legend is reinforced by a fortunate excavation. Back in 1982, a
woman's skull was unearthed on the castle's grounds. Thus Tabor
festival winners are awarded replicas of "Veronica's Skull" along with
accompanying purses. The winner of the Grand Prix, usually for a
fiction film, takes home a purse of Euro 2,000. Four more Skulls,
worth Euro 1,000 each, are handed out to winners in the Experimental,
Animation, Documentary categories, plus the winner of the Audience
Prize. Another Euro 1,000 purse goes to the winner of the Croatian
competition.

The festival trailer adds to the fun. A spook – something passing for
a human skull – sways across the screen. Let your imagination wander a
bit, and you might even hear the hoot of an owl on the soundtrack.
This year, due to renovations at Tabor Castle, the festival had to be
moved "in exile" to the neighboring Orsic Castle. A baroque edifice
dating from the middle of the 18th century, Orsic houses a museum
dealing with the history of the surrounding Zagorje Province. It's
also one of 50 castles in the region.

Clearly, the Croatian Tourist Bureau and the Zagorje Province
Government have a hand in Tabor festivities. The guests are housed in
Terme Tuhelj Hotel, a wellness health spa built atop a thermal bath.
Excursions are the order of the day – before the screenings in the
afternoon and evening. One afternoon, an excursion took us to the
local vineyards. It was capped with a sumptuous feast at a family
restaurant. On another afternoon outing, we found ourselves cruising
along the border to Slovenia. "Over there," the driver said, "the
Slovenian Tolars have already been cashed-in for Euros." As though
Croatian Kunas were next in line. So near is the European Union. And
yet so far.

From 1500 short films sent by 80 countries to Tabor for
consideration, the selection committee chose 49 entries from 24 lands
for the international competition, plus another 11 shorts for the
Croatian program. Two international juries decided on the winners of
the respective Veronica Skulls. Rather than grouping entries into
rigid filmmaking categories – fiction, documentary, animation,
experiment – Tabor prefers thematic programming that mixes them all
together. So half the fun each evening was gauging the relevance of a
film entry to one of the half-dozen free flowing themes: Futura,
Matters of the Heart, World Trip, Frankly Female, Pride and
Prejudices, and Silence. But then But then maybe anything can sneak-in
under such generalities

For some veterans of the short film festival circuit, the Off Program
proved to be as entertaining as the competition. The Sam Spiegel Film
School in Jerusalem presented its award-winners. The British Film
Council was present with a dozen shorts. Nominations for the UIP Prix
2006 were screened. The past four Tabor Grand Prix winners were
reviewed. Women filmmakers were highlighted in the Especially Female
program. On the Croatian side of the ledger, the United Nations
Development Program (UNDP) was on hand with four social documentaries
on national issues. The Amateur Film Revue (RAF), an event held each
March in Zagreb, sent a selection of audience favorites. "Activist
videos" and music clips by Croatian media artists could also be seen.
The "Grand Prix Veronica Skull" was awarded to Amy Neils Topljenje
leda (Icicle Melt) (UK/Sweden). A poignant account of a wife's
reaction to her husband's sudden death the morning after a joyful
evening of dancing in falling snow, Icicle Melt was shot above the
arctic circle "under the Northern Lights" and set during the Christmas
season. It features a forceful performance by Greta Scacchi as the
afflicted and loving wife, who runs the full gamut of emotions without
a word of dialogue. A special mention went deservedly to Vano
Burduli's Graffiti (Georgia). By effectively using grainy photography
to suggest an underground document on a forbidden resistance movement,
Burduli underscores how graffiti squirted on walls might well be the
only weapon left for an artist to confront the tanks patrolling the
streets under a repressive regime. Another special mention went to
Isold Uggadottir's Godir Gestir (Family Reunion) (Iceland/USA). A
young woman on her trip home to Iceland from New York City to attend
her grandfather's birthday is faced with a dilemma. How to tell her
family that she is, in fact, a lesbian and lives with a woman in
Manhattan. The situation is resolved unexpectedly – the grandfather
announces at the birthday celebration that he, too, has shared part of
his life with a close friend and now is prepared to announced the gay
relationship.

Alex Weil's One Rat Short (USA), awarded Best Animation Film, scores
as an amusing tale of unrequited love between rats in the New York
subway. Invited to Sundance and awarded at several shorts festivals,
it is currently a hit on YouTube. Also, Bill Plympton's Guide Dog
(USA) was an audience favorite. This hilarious tale of a pudgy little
dog, who use his wit and begging powers to win a job as a guide dog,
always ends in catastrophe when he finds himself on the end of a blind
person's leash. Raymond (France/UK), a comic gruesome tale directed by
"BIF" (François Roisin, Fabrice Le Nezet, Jules Janaud), was awarded
Best Experimental Film. And Guido Thys's comedy-of-manners Tanghi
Argentini (Tango) (Belgium), awarded the Audience Prize at
Clermont-Ferrand and Aspen Shortsfest, scored again in the same
category at Tabor. Just as impressive was Pieter-Jan De Pue's O
(Belgium). Billed as a fiction film, athough just as effective in its
experimental narrative structure, O charts the search for water by
human life faced with the calamity of last drop of water as it rapidly
disappears into a parched desert plain.

The Veronica Skull for Best Documentary was awarded to Nikola
Strasek's Ubil bum te! (I'll Kill Ya!) (Croatia). The story of a
homicide in the Zagreb drug scene, I'll Kill Ya! draws its power from
an interview with a stoned social dropout who takes some
responsibility for the apparently accidental killing. At the same
time, Strasek documents the failings in a slipshod justice system that
takes a couple years to determine guilt and punishment. Simon
Bogojevic Narath's Levijatan (Leviathan) (Croatia), an animated salute
to 17th-century British political philosopher Thomas Hobbes, was
awarded Best Croatian Short. Come this November, the TIFF team will
take a selection of Croatian shorts to other international film
festivals. The first stop will be the Berlin Interfilm Festival.
Indeed, the current revival of an independent and award-winning "New
Croatian Cinema" owes its auteur status to a phalanx of interconnected
film festivals scattered across the country. Three major international
film events are found in the Croatian capital alone – Zagreb Features,
Zagreb Dox, Zagreb Anima – while crowds from across Croatia flock in
the summer to Istria on the Adriatic for independent cinema programmed
atop a mountain in the medieval town of Motovun. Tourists visiting
Pula can savor mainstream fare in the ancient Vespasian arena dating
from the second century. For experimental cinema, you can hole up in
that splendid Diocletian Palace at Split. For one-minute films, try
Pozega in the heart of folkloric Slavonia. And, for short films, climb
another mountain, this one in the Zagorje Province just north of
Zagreb, to attend the Tabor International Short Film Festival, where
productions of all genres and formats in picturesque Tabor Castle.

Veronica Skull Awards

International Competition Jury
Best Short Film
Topljenje leda (Icicle Melt) (Sweden), dir Amy Neil – fiction film
Special Mentions
Graffiti (Georgia), dir Vano Burduli – fiction film
Godir Gestir (Family Reunion) (Iceland/USA), dir Isold Uggadottir – fiction film
Best Documentary Film
Ubil bum te! (I'll Kill Ya!) (Croatia), dir Nikola Strasek
Best Animation Film
One Rat Short (USA), dir Alex Weil
Best Experimental Film
Raymond (France/UK), dir Bif (François Roisin, Fabrice Le Nezet, Jules Janaud)

Croatian Competition Jury
Best Short Film
Levijatan (Leviathan) (Croatia), dir Simon Bogojevic Narath – animation film

Audience Award
Tanghi Argentini (Tango) (Belgium), dir Guido Thys – fiction film

Tanghi Argentini (Tango) (Belgium), awarded the Audience Prize at
Clermont-Ferrand and Aspen Shortsfest, scored again in the same
category at Tabor. Just as impressive was Pieter-Jan De Pue
(Belgium). Billed as a fiction film, athough just as effective in its
experimental narrative structure, O charts the search for water by
human life faced with the calamity of last drop of water as it rapidly
disappears into a parched desert plain.

The Veronica Skull for Best Documentary was awarded to Nikola
Strasekbil bum te! (IKill Ya!) (Croatia). The story of a
homicide in the Zagreb drug scene, IKill Ya! draws its power from
an interview with a stoned social dropout who takes some
responsibility for the apparently accidental killing. At the same
time, Strasek documents the failings in a slipshod justice system that
takes a couple years to determine guilt and punishment. Simon
Bogojevic Narathevijatan (Leviathan) (Croatia), an animated salute
to 17th-century British political philosopher Thomas Hobbes, was
awarded Best Croatian Short. Come this November, the TIFF team will
take a selection of Croatian shorts to other international film
festivals. The first stop will be the Berlin Interfilm Festival.
Indeed, the current revival of an independent and award-winning
Croatian Cinemaes its auteur status to a phalanx of interconnected
film festivals scattered across the country. Three major international
film events are found in the Croatian capital alone greb Features,
Zagreb Dox, Zagreb Anima ile crowds from across Croatia flock in
the summer to Istria on the Adriatic for independent cinema programmed
atop a mountain in the medieval town of Motovun. Tourists visiting
Pula can savor mainstream fare in the ancient Vespasian arena dating
from the second century. For experimental cinema, you can hole up in
that splendid Diocletian Palace at Split. For one-minute films, try
Pozega in the heart of folkloric Slavonia. And, for short films, climb
another mountain, this one in the Zagorje Province just north of
Zagreb, to attend the Tabor International Short Film Festival, where
productions of all genres and formats in picturesque Tabor Castle.

Veronica Skull Awards

International Competition Jury
Best Short Film
Topljenje leda (Icicle Melt) (Sweden), dir Amy Neil ction film
Special Mentions
Graffiti (Georgia), dir Vano Burduli ction film
Godir Gestir (Family Reunion) (Iceland/USA), dir Isold Uggadottir ction film
Best Documentary Film
Ubil bum te! (IKill Ya!) (Croatia), dir Nikola Strasek
Best Animation Film
One Rat Short (USA), dir Alex Weil
Best Experimental Film
Raymond (France/UK), dir Bif (Fran"ois Roisin, Fabrice Le Nezet, Jules Janaud)

Croatian Competition Jury
Best Short Film
Levijatan (Leviathan) (Croatia), dir Simon Bogojevic Narath imation film

Audience Award
Tanghi Argentini (Tango) (Belgium), dir Guido Thys ction film