Lea and Darija (2011)
"Lea i Darija" (original title)

It's inspiring true story about two thirteen year old girls who were, on the eve of World War II, great dancing and acting stars in Zagreb. Selling out theater venues, they weer praised in ... See full summary »

Director:

Branko Ivanda

Writers:

Branko Ivanda (story), Drago Kekanovic

Stars:

Klara Naka, Tamy Zajec, Zrinka Cvitesic

5 wins.

Cast

Credited cast:
Klara Naka	...	Lea Deutsch
Tamy Zajec	...	Darija Gasteiger
Zrinka Cvitesic	...	Ivka Deutsch
Linda Begonja	...	Melita Gasteiger
Sebastian Cavazza	...	Stjepan Deutsch
Vedran Zivolic	...	Tadija Kukic
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Visnja Babic	...	Nina Vavra
Petar Ciritovic	...	Njemacki portir
Drazen Cucek	...	Tito Strozzi
David Cuk	...	Sasa Deutsch
Ivan Djuricic	...	Mladen Sirola
Sanja Dolezal	...	Nina Selak
Zuza Egreny	...	Darija Gasteiger - starica
Mila Elegovic	...	Glumica
Renne Gjoni	...	Nazi Officer

Storyline

It's inspiring true story about two thirteen year old girls who were, on the eve of World War II, great dancing and acting stars in Zagreb. Selling out theater venues, they weer praised in the most superb headlines by the Croatian and European press. They were filmed by Parisian 'Pathe' and Berlin's UFA... During the Nazi persecution of Jews and later German nationals' flight from communists, a dramatic friendship was born through entertainment, dance, but also anxiety. This led towards an unexpected end.

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Genres:

Drama | Music | War

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Details

Country:

Croatia

Language:

Croatian German French

Release Date:

29 January 2012 (Croatia)

Also Known As:

Lea and Darija

Filming Locations:

Ivanic grad, Croatia

Company Credits

Technical Specs

Runtime:

101 min

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

User Reviews

An amazing film that gets to your heart without you noticing

I have just seen Lea and Darjia at the opening of the 58th Pula Film Festival. As a person who grew up in Israel I have seen numerous movies that deal with various aspects of the Jews in Europe before and during WW-II. This movie, unlike others, does not awake any defense mechanism by showing horrifying scenes from concentration camps and in this lies its power. The mixture of the strong message with music and children leaves the viewer "unprotected" till the last moment only to remain with a very strong feeling at the end of the movie. A strong feature of the movie is the parallel development and maturation of both children and adults. This often awakes in the viewer feeling of parental pride and honest surprise. I found the performance of the actors excellent and very convincing. The movie was interesting from the beginning to the end without unnecessary scenes that may have prolonged it too much. To summarize, this movie brigs honor to the touching story it tells. I therefore highly recommend it to anyone regardless of their interest and knowledge in history of the Jews in Europe.