Branko Istvancic  
Film and TV director
 
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 Our Lady of Ilaca


Original title: Draga Gospa Ilacka
English title:
Our Lady of Ilaca

Documentary, 40 minutes
Croatia 2010., color, HD, stereo
Production by the Dr. Ante Starcevic Association, Tovarnik
Executive production by ARTIZANA Zagreb

Directed by Branko Istvancic
Screenwriters Nevenka Nekic and Branko Istvancic
Producer Antun Ivankovic
Camera Tomo Sabljic and Vitomir Turbic
Music by Pere Istvancic

The film “Our Lady of Ilaca” epitomizes the metaphysics and mystics of the sacral, and man's earthly course in search for the meaning of life. The theme of pilgrimage to Our Lady of Ilaca reveals the history of the Srijem region, the appearance of the sacred water through the Blessed Virgin Mary, and links this shrine to Lourdes. Filmed on authentic locations it records the statements of eyewitnesses, documentary material, and ambient beauty of this area of Croatia. The score is based on original traditional instruments and melody.

 
 

 

Awards:
Grand Prix Religious Film Festival Trsat Croatia 2010
Best Music Religious Film Festival Trsat 2010
Special Mention of Jiry International Tourfilm Festival Split 2011
Best Director International Tourfilm Festival Lecce u Italy 2012

Festivals:
Religious Film Festival Trsat Croatia 2010
UK Christian Film Festival London 2011
International Tourfilm Festival Split 2011
International Tourfilm Festival Lecce u Italy 2012

About Our Lady's Church „On the Water“

Seven years after the Lourdes visions, in 1865, on the Fifth Sunday of Lent, a man from Ilača named Petar Lazin noticed, as he was bringing his cattle to the pasture, that the road he was going was moist. As soon as he started digging at the spot where the dirt was the moistest, the water sprang even more. The same night one DJuka Ambrusevic saw in his dream Our Lady with a white crown on her head and a child in her left arm. She wore a blue and white dress. She told him that the spring belonged to her, and that it should be enclosed so that the cattle could not drink from it. Her wish was that she would help people with water from the spring. After the spring had been enclosed the first pilgrims began to flock thither. The location of the spring was named “Our Lady's Water”. The sick people who bathed themselves in the waters of the spring were healed, and this attracted many more pilgrims. There was many miraculous healings.
The church dedicated to Our Lady of Ilaca “On the Water” was built from 1867 to 1870.