Whispered Mercy

by Martin Turk

Tiha milost, 2026, fiction, digital DCP, 2,39:1/2,35:1, 25, c, 91 min
Upcoming

SI, IT, HR

Set in a remote village on the Slovenia–Italy border, the story follows Nadia, a successful Italian lawyer of Slovenian origin, who returns to her hometown after years of absence to pay a final visit to her dying grandmother. Suspended between two cultures and two identities, she is soon drawn back into a close-knit community she once left behind, and what begins as a simple farewell unfolds into a deeply personal journey shaped by ancient traditions and buried family secrets.

concept developer
Martin Turk
screenwriters
Martin Turk, Fabrizio Bozzetti
script consultants
Francesca Sangalli, Jelena Paljan, Olga Michalik
director
Martin Turk
producer
Ida Weiss
co-producers
Marta Zaccaron, Fabiana Balsamo, Inja Korać
choreographers
Alex Cvetkov, Jan Vidmar
director of photography
Radislav Jovanov
music composer
Teho Teardo
film editor
Tomislav Pavlic
production designers
Mateja Medvedić, Elisabetta Ferrandino
costume designer
Gilda Venturini
key make-up artists
Tina Šubic Dodočić, Mojca Gorogranc Petrushevska, Lija Ivančič
sound designer
Julij Zornik

featuring
Lara Komar, Lučka Počkaj, Vesna Jevnikar, Fulvio Falzarano, Nejc Cijan Garlatti, Mirjam Korbar, Alenka Nika Pirjevec, Francesco Borchi, Riccardo Maranzana, Andrea Collavino, Ivo Barišič, Paolo Fagiolo, Zita Fusco, Alen Kermac, Elena Husu, Rossana Mortara, Lorenzo Bianchini, Andrea Germani

production
Bela film
co-production
Incipit film, Cobra Chicks, RTV Slovenija, Senca Studio
in collaboration with
Film Studio Viba Film
co-funding
Slovenian Film Centre, Regional audiovisual fund Friuli Venezia Giulia, Croatian Audiovisual Centre, Friuli Venezia Giulia Film Commission - FVG, Creative Europe - MEDIA, Eurimages

Bela film
Ida Weiss
info@belafilm.si

Martin Turk's feature films include FEED ME WITH YOUR WORDS (Tallinn, 2012), GOOD DAY’S WORK (Busan, 2018) and DON’T FORGET TO BREATHE (Rome – Alice nella Citta, 2019). His short films include A SLICE OF LIFE (Premiers Plans d'Angers, Best Slovenian Short Film 2006), EVERY DAY IS NOT THE SAME (Cannes Directors' Fortnight 2008), STEALING THE CORN (Palm Springs International ShortFest, 2010), A WELL-SPENT AFTERNOON (Oberhausen SFF, Promotional Award Children's Film Competition, 2016), and AROUND THE CORNER (Uppsala SFF, 2023). His latest project KINO VOLTA premiered at the Trieste IFF in 2024. The film won Best Feature Film at the Bloomsday Film Festival and received the Art Cinema Network of Slovenia Award at the Festival of Slovenian Films in 2024. He is alumnus of Cannes Cinefondation Residence (2009).

“Like Nadja, I belong to the Slovenian community living in Italy. This film is therefore deeply rooted in my own experience of growing up between two cultures and languages, and of leaving that community at a certain point in my life—a departure that placed me in a lasting state of in-betweenness, both belonging and not belonging at the same time. It is an identity that can feel confusing and contradictory, while returning to such a close-knit community after years of absence can be both disturbing and beautiful. It’s a tension which I wanted to reflect through the film as well, by embracing ambiguity and moments in which the real and the unreal quietly coexist.”