Antoneta Alamat Kusijanović

Antoneta Alamat Kusijanović (born 27 September 1985) is a Croatian film director and writer. She has won awards at the Berlin International Film Festival, Cannes Film Festival and Sarajevo Film Festival.

Her first feature film Murina premiered at the 2021 Cannes Film Festival and won the Caméra d'Or for best first feature film.

Early life and education Kusijanović grew up in Dubrovnik and studied film, theater, and producing at the Academy of Dramatic Arts in Zagreb. She continued her education at Columbia University and received an MFA in screenwriting and directing. She moved to New York, attended Columbia University and shot her short film and graduate thesis, Into the Blue (U plavetnilo).

Into the Blue (U plavetnilo) was released to much acclaim, winning awards at the Sarajevo Film Festival, Cannes Film Festival, the Berlin Film Festival and it was nominated for a student Academy Award.

Kusijanovic expanded on the themes of Into the Blue, including adolescence and gender, in Murina, rehiring the same lead actor, Gracija Filipović. Kusijanovic wrote the role in Murina specifically for Filipoviç and has known her since Filipoviç was nine, saying "... the relationship was more mothering back then and over the years it grew into friendship and then real collaboration."

Kusijanovic's latest project is a short film, Stane, commissioned by Miu Miu for the company's Women’s Tales series. It stars Murina actress Danica Curcic. 2017 Winner - Berlin Film Festival - Special Mention of the Generation 14 plus International Jury - Best Short Film

Nominations Her student film Into the Blue was nominated for a student Oscar in 2017.

She was nominated for Outstanding Directorial Achievement of a First-time Feature Film Director by the Directors Guild of America for her film Murina.

Filmography Directed 2014: Nonina 2014: Jelka (Christmas tree), short film 2015: Oko za Oko (Eye for an Eye), short film 2016: If We Must Die, short film 2017: Into the Blue (U plavetnilo), short film 2021: Murina, feature film 2023: Stane, short film