For his role in the movie Agape, directed by Branko Schmidt, Goran Bogdan was awarded best European actor at the Festival de Cinema Europeo, in the southern Italian city of Lecce.

Goran Bogdan became known to the foreign audiences through his role of Yuri Gurka in the FX hit series, Fargo.

The movie deals with a profoundly controversial topic – paedophilia in Church. The main character Miran, played by Bogdan, is a young, unconventional priest who prepares children for confirmation. When a new student, Gabrijel (Pavle Cemerikic), arrives in his group, the priest takes a liking to him and neglects his previous favourite student, who gets jealous and admits to being in a sexual relationship with Miran. This sets in motion a series of disastrous events.

Italian movie critics said that Bogdan was perfect in his difficult and delicate role as a priest with a strict civil responsibility.

At the centre of the film is the idea of a man’s confrontation with himself, and the excellent choice in actor is another proof of the director’s skill, said Maja Gregl, an editor of the Croatian Audiovisual Centre, which co-produced the film.

She added that she was glad that the difficult role of the priest Miran, who, searching for love, discovers Agape, God’s love, was recognised at this prestigious festival.

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