ORIGINAL TITLE

Rupa

WRITER

Ivana Bodrožić

WRITERS BIO

An award-winning and bestselling author, considered as one of the best in her generation. Her break-through was with "Hotel Zagorje", which was a huge bestseller in Croatia and was translated into a dozen of languages. Her novel "The Pit" was awarded Balkan Noir prize for best crime novel.

LOGLINE of the book

A political thriller that boldly engages to unmask a transitional society, deeply saturated with crime and corruption.

synopsis of the book / STORY

A journalist Nora Kirin arrives in an unnamed Croatian town chasing a story of a local high school teacher who, along with her underage lover, murdered her husband. An intriguing, agonizing and dark story about a family tragedy and a scorned woman leads into a series of parallel narratives that are entangled with the underground of this deeply divided city. One of the major narrative lines leads Nora on the path of her father’s murderer, who got killed around twenty years before, at the eve of the war, trying to mediate between enemy sides and warning them that the conflict might be intentionally provoked.

The plot takes place when bilingual boards were being placed on public institutions in a town that profits the most from the traffic of human victims. The controllers of all processes are the same people who participated in war crimes in the 90’s, corrupt politicians, surviving mobsters, warlords who, almost twenty years later, converted into being members of the local political and social elite.

WRITERs statement

By the agreement with Corto Literary Agency, the author gives his consent that the agency will represent his work in his best interest.

pUBLISHER company profile

Corto Literary Agency is the only literary agency in Croatia specialized in international rights sales. It represents the best Croatian and a number of authors from South-Eastern Europe worldwide. As a co-agent the agency represents foreign publishers, literary agencies and authors, mostly from United States, United Kingdom, Sweden, Germany, France, Israel, Spain and South America.

pUBLISHERS bio

Diana Matulić is a literary agent and editor with a longstanding experience in publishing and agenting business. For ten years she have worked as a foreign literature editor at largest and most prominent Croatian publishing companies in order to open her own literary agency, the first in Croatia, in 2016. with a vision to broader global readership with the finest voices from the SE region.

MAIN AWARDS / FESTIVALS OF WRITER

Kiklop Award
Kočićevo pero Award
Josip and Ivan Kozarac Award
Prix Ulysse for the best debut novel in France                         Balkan Noir Literary Prize

PAST MAIN PUBLICATIONS OF WRITER

Prvi korak u tamu (First Step Into Darkenss), poetry
Hotel Zagorje (Hotel Tito), a novel
Prijelaz za divlje životinje (A Road for Wild Animals), poetry 100% pamuk (100% Cotton), short-story collection

Rupa (The Pit), a novel
In a Sentimental Mood, poetry

MAIN BIBLIOGRAPHY & SELECTION IN MAIN FESTIVALS OF PUBLISHER

The novel has been presented to international publishers and agents at London, Frankfurt, Prague and Belgrade book fairs.

AUDIOVISUAL RIGHTS HIGHLIGHTS BY PUBLISHER

Screen-play written in collaboration with award-winning director Jasmila Žbanić, Audio-book for Hotel Tito in English

Project type

Feature Animation

genre

Drama / Detective / Crime / Thriller / Novel / Investigation / Psychological / Fiction / Adult

SETTING

The town by the river, dark atmosphere, industrial, cold, with a glimpse of old architecture.

languages

English, German, French, Italian...

main characters

Nora Kirin, a journalist
Marko, a taxi driver and former soldier

PROMOTIONAL MATERIAL AVAILABLE

Synopsis, blurb, quotes, presentation and sample English translation of the novel.

FILM AND TV REFERENCES (Sample films)

Počivali u miru (Rest in Peace), Croatian TV crime Series

TARGET AUDIENCE AGE

35-45

TARGET AUDIENCE PROFILE

Wide audience, younger, by mid 40-ies, left oriented

LOCATIONS IN WHICH STORY TAKES PLACE

Croatia, Serbia

AGE IN WHICH STORY TAKES PLACE

2010-2020

AVAILABLE RIGHTS

TV (Film and Series)

AVAILABLE RIGHTS FOR TERRITORIES

Global

represented by

Cortoliterary - Diana Matulić

OTHER DOCUMENTS

Other information connected to the project at the Matchmakingforum at : office@matchmakingforum.eu