Third film by the German director Maren Ade, also the most popular film at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, Toni Erdmann, is an intense comedy about a relationship between a rigid corporate consultant and her ceaselessly playful father.

When her father pays her an unexpected visit after a long time, Ines experiences a parade of embarrassment, which finally drives Winfried off, but then in comes his alter ego – Toni Erdmann. Disguised in a ragged suit with a funny wig and fake rubber teeth, Toni returns to Ines’s life and together they become a sort of yin and yang between comedy and tragedy. In a whirlwind of chaos, Ines begins to realise that her eccentric father might deserve a place in her life.

Although Toni’s character seems fictional, the director was inspired by two real-life personalities: her own father, to whom she gave dentures to make him even more hilarious in his pranks, and the conflicting personalities of entertainer Andy Kaufman.

Maren Ade is the first winner of FIPRESCI Award for best film and the first woman director to win this prestigious honour. Toni Erdmann, the German Oscar candidate, premiered in Cannes and earned a Palme d’Or nomination, winning the hearts of audience and critics.

The Croatian premiere is scheduled for Tuškanac cinema on Saturday, 19 November at 6pm, in the LUX Film Day section.