March 16, 2022 - The workshop organized by Kinoklub Zagreb will be hosted by the award-winning filmmakers Sunčica Ana Veldić and Zorko Sirotić, who by moderating and mentoring each individual project will challenge authors to 'find their own voice and expand the established boundaries of film thinking and expectations'.

Kinoklub Zagreb is organizing a workshop on author's documentary film intended for advanced participants, who will make a short documentary film in ten terms during April and May, which will then be shown publicly, reports tportal.hr.

At the workshop, participants will develop, prepare and independently realize their film, exploring through a series of creative challenges the topic with which they applied, announced Kinoklub Zagreb.

Emphasis on the author's approach

The hosts are the award-winning filmmakers Sunčica Ana Veldić and Zorko Sirotić, who, by moderating and mentoring each individual project, will challenge the authors to "find their own voice and expand the established boundaries of film thinking and expectations."

The emphasis will be on creative thinking in front of the camera and the use of film means of expression in an unusual, experimental way, it added.

The dynamics of the workshop require the participants to have prior knowledge of filming and editing, and the leaders will select a maximum of six participants.

Those interested should send a short biography, motivation, an idea for a film that they plan to realize, and a link to their previous film work to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. by April 1st. The introductory lecture of the workshop will be held on April 6.

The workshop is free and will be held once a week, at a time that suits the participants and leaders. Equipment is provided by Kinoklub Zagreb.

As announced, the final product, a short documentary-experimental film of each participant will be shown at the Kinoklub Zagreb, and possibly at festivals, as was the case with the award-winning film "Pleiades" by Mateja Zidarić.

For more information, visit the official website and Facebook page of Kinoklub Zagreb.

For more, check out our lifestyle section.

March 16, 2022 - Nightclubs in Croatia could soon reopen as epidemiological measures in the country will be mitigated. 

COVID certificates are decreasingly sought after in institutions, and Croatia seeks to ease measures this week. Dnevnik Nova TV reporter Martina Bolšec Oblak is the first to find out the details from director of the CNIPH Krunoslav Capak.

Mitigating epidemiological measures have been announced in Croatia. 

"We have always paid attention to the balance between the economy, social life, and epidemiological measures that allow the epidemic to be kept under control as much as possible. All that remains are a few measures. What we can do is increase the number of people at gatherings. So far, it was 50 (indoors) or 100 (outdoors), now we will increase it to 100 or 200, and with COVID certificates, the number will be unlimited. Still, everyone should adhere to epidemiological measures," said the director of the CNIPH, Krunoslav Capak.

For the time being, catering facilities are only open until midnight, but changes could be introduced in that sector as well.

"We are thinking of extending that time because it allows nightclubs, slot machine clubs, and so on longer working hours. So it will probably be until 2 am. It is also being discussed, and a decision will be made in the next 24 to 48 hours," he said.

Sport and culture are also in the package.

"We will make some concessions when it comes to sporting and cultural events. For example, we will allow stadiums to be full with COVID certificates, and if they don't have certificates, there is a provision on the distance between spectators. As for cultural events, we had restrictions on four square meters without COVID certificates. Now, we will abolish those four meters where COVID certificates are required and give in to cultural and artistic performances," Capak explained.

More and more people in public transport and shops are not wearing masks. "Masks remain as a measure in all indoor and outdoor areas where space cannot be maintained, but masks are an epidemiological measure we had before vaccination and COVID certification, and they to some extent protect against the spread of all respiratory infections including corona," he added.

There will also be a change in the isolation of kindergarten children. "This measure is not the subject of this decision, but it is a matter of HZJZ regulation in agreement with the Ministry of Science and Education. It is being discussed, and it is possible that the self-isolation measure for kindergarten children will be abolished in the next few days," he said. "We only have tested at school. Therefore, there would be no testing among kindergarten children, and we would not know if someone is asymptomatic, but if the child is sick, they stay at home. If they are healthy, they go to kindergarten normally," concluded Capak. 

For all you need to know about coronavirus specific to Croatia, make sure to bookmark our dedicated section and select your preferred language if it isn't English.

March the 16th, 2022 - The very first Koprivnica Mcdonalds restaurant is set to open its doors near the town's Supernova centre sometime this July, bringing with it stable employment for local residents.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, the world-famous American fast food chain, McDonalds, should open its very first Koprivnica restaurant this July. Work on the location next to the roundabout near the Supernova shopping centre has already started.

As has also been found out, the training of future Koprivnica McDonalds employees has been going on here in the City of Zagreb for three months now, and it is said that there will be at least 50 of them, which is more than excellent news for the local population of a continental town that certainly isn't immune to economic hardship and negative demographic trends.

The brand new Koprivnica Mcdonalds will have a standard offer for a Croatian Mcdonalds with space for McDrive so that people can order meals from the comfort of their own cars (Drive Thru) . It will be the 39th restaurant of that wildly popular American chain to open its doors here in the Republic of Croatia and the 17th city where it will be opened, writes Danica.

Last year, McDonalds in Croatia achieved revenue growth of 3.7 percent, amounting to a total of 610 million kuna. This can be attributed to the new restaurants they opened, including the one on Bjelovar, another continental Croatian town.

McDonalds had a net profit of 66.2 million kuna in Croatia the year before last. The average net salary per employee during 2020 amounted to 6,150 kuna, and they have about 2,700 workers employed in stable jobs in locations across the country.

For more, make sure to check out our business section.

March the 16th, 2022 - Issues in the overall Croatian rental car business are arising as preparations slowly but surely begin as 2022's tourist season approaches. What were once issues caused by the coronavirus pandemic are now being added to by something else...

As Poslovni Dnevnik/Marija Crnjak writes, what began as a result of the global coronavirus pandemic in the Croatian rental car market has continued even more fiercely and with even greater uncertainty under the new circumstances of Putin's shock invasion of Ukraine, bringing total disorder to the car rental market worldwide, including here in Croatia.

Purchasing new cars is a bit like taking your chances on the lottery, no well-known models are being used for this purpose, used vehicles are being sold at never higher prices, and with demand stronger than supply, service prices are also soaring.

Here in Croatia, this will certainly affect the quality of tourist services offered in this year's summer season for which preparations are now underway, albeit with increasingly uncertain forecasts.

As has since been found out in the Croatian rental car sector, there are no indications that this situation will change significantly in the next year, and what possibly acts as a comfort to those working in this sector is that this crisis could serve as something corrective to the dumping market which has become a problem in itself over more recent years.

"Due to the coronavirus pandemic, supply routes were disrupted, which has worsened with inflation, and especially with the uncertain situation in Ukraine. Preparations for the summer season are underway, and if the predictions we had before the invasion of Ukraine do come true, which is an increase in demand, we'll have a disruption in the Croatian rental car market, as will other Mediterranean countries,'' said Boris Zgomba, CEO Uniline, which develops its car rental business through the very well known Europcar franchise.

Europcar is currently in the process of assembling a fleet that is usually completed by the month of April, so there's still some time left, albeit not much. Zgomba says it was challenging to get their hands on vehicles, but the situation isn't that dramatic. What comes to them, however, will be more expensive than last year, when demand was better than back in 2020, and prices have already jumped compared to the time before the global pandemic.

However, before the pandemic struck, at a time of car overproduction, supply was higher than demand, but was more and more strained across the entire service chain. This led to cars being rented for ''peanuts''. Kresimir Dobrilovic, the founder and owner of the leading European franchise Carwiz International, often pointed out this problem here on the Croatian market.

"The market of the whole of Europe is in the same basket, and it comes down to the fact that everyone manages as they know how. It used to be normal to get several hundred cars at once, now you literally go from showroom to showroom and get a few cars which are more expensive, but you have to have a basic means of work and you need safe cars. It's a big issue because importers can't guarantee that car rental companies will get the vehicles they ordered and paid for, and companies can't accept reservations if they aren't sure they will even have a fleet, because they have to try to maintain the trust of their customers,'' explained Dobrilovic.

It is equally challenging on the market of used cars, whose prices have skyrocketed.

"Wholesalers of used cars also contact us every day with some seriously expensive options, which would make sense if we could predict how the market will move in the coming period. Because buying a car and not knowing how much you can sell it for in a year is a very risky move,'' explained the owner of the Carwiz International franchise, who recently sold his operating business here in Croatia to ABmobil rent.

As was recently announced, the new Management Board of Carwiz in Croatia plans to increase the number of branches compared to last year in 2022, and it also plans to significantly increase the size of its vehicle fleet to more than 1,500 vehicles in the summer season.

What awaits the Croatian rental car market in the future is hard to predict, but some research carried out in England has shown that the market won't return to normal in the next three years, and we still have a great unknown hanging above our heads, and that's how the war in Ukraine following Russian invasion will unfold.

"Although it's very difficult to make any forecasts now, our colleagues might think about how it was before the pandemic, when the large offer and the way of doing business led to a lot of dumping in the car rental business. This is an opportunity for the market, once it stabilises, to become more aware and return to some dimensions of profitable business,'' concluded Kresimir Dobrilovic.

For more, make sure to check out our business section.

March the 16th, 2022 - Could a ''green Opatija'' be on the cards as this beautiful Kvarner town in the Northern Adriatic region hopes to position itself as a ''green'' business destination? It seems so.

As Poslovni Dnevnik/Marija Crnjak writes, the Tourist Board of the City of Opatija has launched the project Opatija - Green Meeting Destination, which aims to direct this city, dominated by picturesque Austro-Hungarian architecture, towards the status of becoming a recognised sustainable business destination. If it succeeds, the new ''green Opatija'' would join the ranks of European cities like Gothenburg, Copenhagen, Zurich, Glasgow, and if we're looking much further afield - Sydney.

The green Opatija project includes proper education on key subjects of the wider congress offer, in which Croatia as a whole is being more recognised, as well as the creation and implementation of recommendations with criteria for achieving sustainability in the organisation of congress events.

“An increasing number of organisers are paying more and more attention to reducing negative impacts on the environment and on society. By creating an environment in which such responsible behaviour is encouraged and promoted, Opatija once again stands out as a destination that is developing in line with the world's leading trends.

In the realisation of this project, which started back in January and has a duration of six months, the Opatija Tourist Board has established cooperation with the Eventful agency, the only one in all of the Republic of Croatia which specialises in organising and implementing sustainable events,'' they explained from the Opatija Tourist Board.

As part of the project, an educational workshop was held for representatives of hotel companies, agencies and congress spaces, individual meetings with tourism entities will be organised, and the final project will be a pilot business meeting organised in accordance with all of the current, modern sustainability criteria.

For more, make sure to check out our dedicated travel section.

March the 16th, 2022 - The Croatian company Atos has obtained the ''Great Place to Work'' certificate for the third year running, placing this particular company firmly on the map for the pickier job seekers among us.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, for the third year in a row now, the Croatian company Atos has received the Great Place To Work (GPTW) certificate, the most famous sort of international recognition in the field of employee satisfaction. According to the company, both Atos companies in Croatia - Atos IT Solutions and Services and Atos Convergence Creators - have defended this much sought-after status among the best employers for 2022 as the only companies from the Republic of Croatia to obtain it at all.

The prestigious GPTW certificate is awarded to organisations that provide the best employee experience, and is awarded by the International GPTW Institute based on the results of an anonymous employee satisfaction survey and a calculation of the level of overall employee confidence index in the company.

During this examination, employees evaluate the credibility, communication and integrity of the company's management, the level of respect shown by the company's management to its other employees, fairness in recognising success, tangible and intangible rewards, promotion(s), development opportunities offered by the company, as well as pride, equality and togetherness in the workplace.

"In times like these, it's important that the employer understands its employees and the daily challenges that life places in front of them and that it adapts to them as much as possible. In addition, it is important to invest time and energy in creating great teams that serve each other as a safety net and whose collaboration empowers each individual, as with such support, a team becomes invincible.

This strength of a good team can be seen in our work, the Croatian company Atos is a business partner that clients are happy to rely on, and the strength of our team has led us to the third Great Place To Work award for the third time in a row. The Croatian company Atos is becoming a better place to work year after year, despite all the misfortunes the coronavirus pandemic has brought with it. I'm extremely proud of our great team as well as Atos' policy that employees will always come first ", said Mirela Sola, the director of the Human Resources Department at Atos.

For more, check out Made in Croatia.

March 16, 2022 - A record number of jobs in Split-Dalmatia County are currently on offer, which can only mean one thing - summer is coming. 

There are more and more job advertisements on social networks lately, but also advertised on Employment Service pages, confirming that the new tourist season is soon approaching, reports Slobodna Dalmacija.

Waiters, chefs, receptionists are some of the most sought-after jobs, and there are 562 ads in the "Service and catering occupations" category in Split-Dalmatia County.

During the first two months of 2022, a total of 7,696 needs for workers were received, which is 4,621 or 150.3 percent more than in 2021. In addition, there are 2,218 ads for seasonal jobs, which is 1,513 or 214.6 percent more than in the first two months of 2021," explains Jelena Gogić, head of the Split office of the Croatian Employment Service (CES).

She adds that the seasonal demand is dominated by providing accommodation and food preparation with 1593 ads. In total, the most sought-after were salespeople (1242), followed by waiters (642), delivery drivers (467), cooks (428), cleaners (316), and so on.

Some of the largest hotel groups in Split are also looking for workers. Namely, Hotel Radisson Blu Resort & Spa is looking for a restaurant manager, restaurant shift manager, bartender, waiter, maid, chef, assistant chef, head of the kitchen shift, and pizza master.

The AC Hotel by Marriott Split will open in the 135-meter-high Westgate tower at the beginning of July, and it is the first Croatian hotel under the brand of one of the most prestigious hotel groups in the world. The hotel will employ over 100 staff, and managerial positions have already been filled. For the remaining jobs, advertisements are currently placed on social networks. They are looking for workers at the reception, in the sales and finance sector, in maintenance, and bartenders and waiters.

Hotel Le Méridien Lav is also looking for workers, including a night receptionist, security guard, pastry chef, and luggage assistant.

According to Gogić, the Employment Service recorded 24,832 unemployed people at the end of February, which is 4,296 or 17.7 percent less than in February 2021. In addition, there were 11,111 unemployed men (44.7 percent) and 13,721 (55.3 percent) women.

The head of the CES office in Split explains that most unemployed have a three-year secondary education, 8607 (34.7 percent), followed by a four-year secondary education, 8324 (33.5 percent). Furthermore, 3483 (14 percent) are unemployed with primary school education, 2246 (9 percent) with university education, 2032 (8.2 percent) with higher education, and 140 (0.6 percent) without schooling.

Jelena Gogić answered if the employers manage to find workers, i.e. if the staff registered at the institute correspond to those who are wanted.

"Employers in most cases manage to realize their needs for workers, and it can be said that in 60 to 70 percent of cases, they manage to find the necessary staff. If, on the other hand, they do not realize their needs with "domestic staff," they turn to employing foreigners and submitting applications for issuing work permits," Gogić states.

She adds that the Employment Service, as every year, trains workers for occupations that are most in-demand in the labor market and chronically lacking, emphasizing careers in the provision of accommodation and food and beverage preparation.

"The interest of the unemployed is great, and since the beginning of the year, 80 drivers of C and D categories have been sent for education, 18 for training in writing EU projects, 111 unemployed have been sent for training to upgrade IT skills, and there are 160 participants in English, Italian or German. In addition, training for 30 nurses, 30 nursing home workers, and 20 masseurs is also being prepared," Gogić concluded. 

For more, check out our lifestyle section.

March 16, 2022 - Petra Martić has advanced to the Indian Wells quarter-finals after defeating 23-year-old Russian Ludmilla Samsonova in the round of 16 on Tuesday. 

Petra Martic (WTA - 79th), the only remaining Croatian representative at the WTA 1000 tournament in Indian Wells, advanced to the quarter-finals on Tuesday, defeating 23-year-old Russian Ludmilla Samsonova (WTA - 32nd) 7-6 (6), 6- 4 in one hour and 54 minutes of play.

It was the fourth meeting between the two tennis players and the fourth victory for the 31-year-old from Duće.

Martić started the match better, took a 3-0 lead, and held the advantage until the seventh game when the Russian reached her first and only break in the match. The decision to win the first set fell in a tie-break in which Samsonova took a 3-1 lead. However, Samsonova made too many mistakes and after 65 minutes, Martić came to a significant advantage.

In the second set, Petra served excellently and lost only one point in the first four service games. In the fifth and seventh games, Martić missed one break opportunity to break Samsonova's serve in the ninth game. The Russian had one chance to return in the tenth game, but she blew it with one of many unforced errors, and two points later, the Croatian tennis player used the first match point. 

Thus, for the second time in her career, Martić reached the quarter-finals in Indian Wells, just like in 2018. Her rival for the semifinals will be Romanian Simona Halep (WTA - 26th), who was better than Sorana Cirstea in the round of 16 with 6- 1, 6-4.

Martić played three matches against the former first tennis player in the world and lost twice. Their quarter-final match at Indian Wells four years ago was their last, and in it, Halep celebrated in three sets, coming back from 1-3 in the third set.

After this tournament, Petra will significantly jump on the WTA list. Before Indian Wells, she was 79th and is currently the 58th best female tennis player in the world.

Source: HRT

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