Croatian Church Satire Draws Interest in France

Croatia may be a very Catholic country by secular European standards, but that has not stopped a satirical movie about the Church called "Svecenikova djeca" ("Priest's Children"), from being a hit with movie audiences.

Now it is going to shown to French audiences, too, supported by the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo.

The comedy, directed by Vinko Bresan, has been seen by 158,000 viewers in Croatia - a lot for a country of less than 5 million. It has been seen by another 113,000 worldwide. It starts playing in 55 cinemas in France from April 1.

The premiere of the film in France, where the title is "Bonté Divine", ["Divine goodness"]  took place on Tuesday in in Paris, with Croatian ambassador Ivo Goldstein and Charlie Hebdo's editor-in-chief, Gerard Briard, in attendance.

Briard said the movie was "in the Charlie Hebdo style" since it sends up religious institutions and mocks their interference in people's personal lives.

"I really liked 'The Priest's Children' and now I'd like to see other Croatian films. If all of them are so good, they should be distributed outside Croatia," he concluded.

Goldstein said he was pleased that the movie had made it to France, a country well known for mocking every aspect of religion.

Since the movie is centred on the theme of contraception, 25,000 condoms will be handed out along with the tickets.

The movie tells the story of a young priest who is posted to a small Croatian island, which is struggling with an ageing population and a low birth rate.

Fr Fabijan then starts to "sabotage" contraceptive tools, like condoms and birth control pills, which results in a much bigger birth rate but brings some problems as well.

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