ZAGREB, April 8, 2019 (Hina) - Europa Cinema (Kino Europa) will remain an art cinema after the necessary renovation, the Office of Zagreb Mayor Milan Bandić has said in a press release which was prompted by announcements of Cinema Europa's management which said that the movie theatre in downtown Zagreb would be shut down as the lease for the premises has ended and the City of Zagreb was taking it back.

"After the necessary renovation, Kino Europa will remain an art cinema. The lease awarded to the current tenants ten years ago has expired and under the law and in accordance with the lease agreement, the current tenants need to leave the facilities by June 1. Apart from ownership, the city needs to be in possession of the facility to be able to carry out the renovation," the press release said.

More than 2,000 people gathered in front of Cinema Europa in Zagreb on Saturday afternoon to show support for the cinema’s management, as the future of the Zagreb movie theatre Europa Cinema (Kino Europa), which is the oldest active cinema in Croatia, seemed uncertain.

On Friday, the cinema’s management announced that they would close the cinema this weekend after they received notice from the City of Zagreb that they would need to exit the premises on 1 June 2019 due to renovations.

Cinema Europa management said in a statement that the City was using the guise of the renovations to get rid of the cinema’s current management and bring a new tenant in.

However, on Saturday afternoon, the Zagreb Film Festival director Boris T. Matić admitted that their reaction a day before was a result of their shock and surprise. He said that 10 years ago when they were awarded the lease, the cinema was in a state of dilapidation. Matić insisted that under the concession agreement, they were supposed to invest two million kuna, and they had invested five million kuna to date.

On Saturday afternoon, the city authorities said that the renovation of the premises was necessary and refuted allegations that there were plans to repurpose the building, located in Zagreb's Cvjetni Square.

Matić said that he would hold a news conference on Tuesday to inform the public about the the details of the investments the current management had made so far.

Croatia’s Minister of Culture, Nina Obuljen Koržinek, on Saturday morning also raised her voice against the closure of Europa Cinema. She called on the two sides to show their good will and reach agreement on the future functioning of the cinema.

The City of Zagreb said in a statement on Saturday that the current management’s lease expires on 1 June and the premise would remain a cinema after renovations are complete.

Mayor Bandić accused the current tenants of exerting pressure on the city, adding that he expected a public apology over untrue claim that the cinema would be converted into a night club.

Europa Cinema, which turns 94 years old this month has been extremely successful over the last ten years, holding over 14,000 projections with over one million visitors. In 2016, Cinema Europa won the European Best Cinema Award. The cinema is a protected cultural heritage and national treasure of Croatia.

Europa Cinema said a second protest would be held on Tuesday, 9 April at 5:30 pm outside the cinema.

Zagreb Film Festival director Boris T. Matić said on Sunday, responding to a statement from the City of Zagreb, that he never said the city planned to convert the Europa cinema into a nightclub and that he had heard this from hospitality circles, and once again apologised to the Jewish Film Festival for his "hasty act."

"I never said the City of Zagreb planned to open a nightclub, but that I heard from hospitality circles that they want to convert the cinema into such a venue," Matić said in a press release, adding that in his statements to the press he had voiced his doubts about that.

"I doubt that and believe it's some malicious imputation both against us and the city structures, but it troubles us that we still haven't received a concrete answer about the future of the cinema... I heard this story from hospitality circles two years ago. I think it's an imputation against us and the City of Zagreb because the cinema is protected cultural heritage," Matić said.

He once again apologised to the Jewish Film Festival, which had to be relocated from the Europa cinema to the Student Centre on the eve of its opening.

Speaking to the press before the opening of the festival, Mayor Bandić slammed "those disparaging city institutions and the mayor," saying they were "shamelessly using spins to realise personal interests, but they won't succeed."

Asked about the importance of the festival for Zagreb, he was it was "inestimable" because it made the city a multicultural, multi-ethnic and multi-confessional European capital.

More Zagreb news can be found in the Lifestyle section.

ZAGREB, April 7, 2019 - More than 2,000 people gathered in front of Europa Cinema in Zagreb on Saturday afternoon to show support for the cinema’s management, as the future of the Zagreb movie theatre Cinema Europa (Kino Europa), which is the oldest active cinema in Croatia, seems uncertain.

On Friday, the cinema’s management announced that they would close the cinema this weekend after they received notice from the City of Zagreb that they would need to exit the premises on 1 June 2019 due to renovations.

Cinema Europa management said in a statement that the City was using the guise of the renovations to get rid of the cinema’s current management and bring a new tenant in.

However, on Saturday afternoon, the Zagreb Film Festival director Boris T. Matić admitted that their reaction a day before was a result of their shock and surprise.

He said that 10 years ago when they were awarded the lease, the cinema was in a state of dilapidation. Matić insisted that under the concession agreement, they were supposed to invest two million kuna, and they had invested five million kuna to date.

On Saturday afternoon, the city authorities said that the renovation of the premises was necessary and refuted allegations that there were plans to repurpose the building, located in Zagreb's Cvjetni Square.

Matić said that he would hold a news conference on Tuesday to inform the public about the details of the investments the current management had made so far.

Croatia’s Minister of Culture, Nina Obuljen Koržinek, on Saturday morning also raised her voice against the closure of Cinema Europa. She called on the two sides to show their good will and reach agreement on the future functioning of the cinema.

The City of Zagreb said in a statement on Saturday that the current management’s lease expires on 1 June and the premise would remain a cinema after renovations are complete.

Cinema Europa said a second protest would be held on Tuesday, 9 April at 5:30 pm outside the cinema.

Cinema Europa, which turns 94 years old this month has been extremely successful over the last ten years, holding over 14,000 projections with over one million visitors. In 2016, Cinema Europa won the European Best Cinema Award. The cinema is a protected cultural heritage and national treasure of Croatia.

More Zagreb news can be found in the Lifestyle section.

The Europa Cinema in Zagreb will close its doors on Sunday, according to the decision made by the cinema’s management and Boris T. Matić, director of the Zagreb Film Festival (ZFF), the art organization that has been managing the oldest Zagreb cinema building for the past ten years, reports tportal.hr on April 6, 2019.

This means that the Festival of Tolerance, which was supposed to start on Sunday, will not be held at the Europa Cinema, and the same goes for the Subversive Film Festival in May and the Animafest Zagreb in June.

The Zagreb Film Festival employees on Friday received a letter from the Zagreb City Office for Property Affairs which informed them that their 10-year lease agreement expires on June 1 and that they must hand over the Cinema Europa building to the city authorities on that day. Otherwise, in accordance with the Law on lease and sale of business premises, "further legal action will be taken." The letter includes a detailed explanation.

“Considering that, during inspections and according to your requests, it has been concluded that the renovation of the building is necessary, the town authorities have undertaken preparatory measures for the cinema’s renovation (adaptation), including renovation of the roof of the building. The equipment and chairs in the main hall are run down and do not meet the technical and safety standards, and parts of the plaster ceiling are falling. Also, the boiler room operates using heating oil, which endangers the safety of the visitors and increases the heating costs,” says the letter signed by office head Damir Lasić, adding that the works are expected to last for six months.

The cinema management explains that they have already partially renovated the building. Also, in October they send a letter to the city authorities asking for the contract extension, but no reply was received. The decision to close the cinema was made spontaneously. “No one talked with us during the last six months, despite our requests filed within the deadlines, and now, two months before the expiration of the contract, we realise that they want to expel us under the guise of renovations. Reality and emotions are mixed,” says Boris T. Matić.

The City Office for Culture has granted the Zagreb Film Festival the usual annual grant in the amount of 420,000 kuna for operations, but this money is almost entirely repaid to the city through the rent for the cinema.

“Cinema Europa costs the City of Zagreb zero kuna. As a matter of fact, all the income we make is again invested in the cinema building. And then they send us the letter to leave by June 1. They will supposedly renovate the facility within six months, although we know that no budget has been foreseen to renovate the cinema. What does this mean for future events, for Animafest, which was supposed to start on June 2? If we leave, who will organise this programme?" Matić asks, adding that ZFF employees heard two years ago that Cinema Europa would become a folk music club, and that nobody has convinced them to the contrary.

Translated from tportal.hr (reported by Silvana Srdoč).

More Zagreb news can be found in the Lifestyle section.

In the intimate ambience of the Bornstein wine shop packed to capacity, the successful project Wine & Cinema, created by Jelena Bulum, continued on Tuesday. It is primarily a wine tasting event, but not only that. It could be said that this is a project which in certain ways moves the boundaries by combining wine with both film and music.

The music and film part of the event was hosted by jazz fan Kornelije Hećimović, who selected five clips of famous jazz scenes from five films: “Knife in the Water" by Roman Polanski, “Elevator to the Gallows” by Louis Malle, “Whiplash” by Damien Chaziel, “Manhattan” by Woody Allen, and “Down by Law” by Jim Jarmusch.

Two different parts of Croatia and two distinct wine regions presented two different wine stories linking the same two things: sincere passion and love for wines on the one hand, and high ecological principles and persistence in the production of natural wines on the other.

The lovers of orange wines were delighted with the Lunika Winery, since the winemaker Danijel Bastijančić from Kanfanar in Istria brought to the tasting as many as three styles of macerated Malvasia: Malvazija Prima Volta 2017 with a two-day maceration, Malvasia Stazion 2017 with a 10-day maceration, and finally the Malvasia Viaggio Lungo 2015, that has been macerated for six months. Among more than 20 labels which come from the vibrant Baranja winery of Slavko Kalazić, the holder of the eco-certificate, two labels were presented: Rose from Frankovka 2018 and Pinot Noir Premium 2009.

At the Wine & Cinema, every evening is different and has a special charm. This time, the appeal was mainly provided by the jazz music from films, as well as by the two people who talked with incredible ease and passion about what they love – sommelier Siniša Škaberna spoke about wines, and journalist Kornelije Hećimović talked about jazz. With the glasses in their hands, the audience travelled through the film worlds with the well-known jazz songs. The culmination was when Lunika’s Malvasia Stazion was poured into glasses and guests were asked to cover their eyes with black bindings and taste the wine when the music started. Deep and mature notes of Lunika's wine with aromas of sorb, mature quince and apple compote mixed and amicably competed for two minutes with brilliant jazz of Miles Davis’ "Generique".

Another important moment happened with the Pinot Noir Premium 2009 by the Kalazić winery. The last year's champion among the black wines at the Festiwine in Dubrovnik presented itself in the best possible light with all the features of the pinot noir variety and proved that after ten years there is still in it at least five years of ageing potential. The wine of perfect fruity whose refinement is unbeatable was perfectly paired with foie gras with dried cranberries prepared by Bornstein. The connection did not include just the palate, but the ears as well, with "Jockey Full of Bourbon", which opens the movie "Down by Law" (1986), closing the evening.

We are waiting for new combinations of wines, films and – who knows what else.

More wine news can be found in the Lifestyle section.

ZAGREB, March 3, 2019 - The Big Stamp for best film in International Competition of the 15th edition of the international documentary film festival ZagrebDox went to the Chinese documentary "Up the Mountain" by Yang Zhang, according to the decision of the jury of the festival which ended on Saturday.

The Chinese documentary is about an artist originally from Shanghai, has been living in a small, remote village in Yunnan Province with his family for many years. and his apprentice Dinglong who decides to move to the city.

The Big Stamp for best regional film went to the film titled "Una Primavera" by Valentina Primavera, and this Italian documentary is about Fiorella, a mother of three, who decides to leave her husband, their house and life to free herself after 40 years of marriage.

The audience declared the Croatian documentary "Neighbours" by Tomislav Žaja the best film of the latest festival edition. The author has shot an observational documentary about people with psychological difficulties who leave the institution after decades spent in isolation, subsequently trying to put back together the pieces of their broken lives.

More film news can be found in the Lifestyle section.

ZAGREB, February 23, 2019 - The 15th edition of the international documentary film festival ZagrebDox, to be held at Zagreb's Kaptol Butique Cinema from February 24 to March 3, will feature 104 documentaries, including 37 competing for international and regional awards, and the films will be shown as part of 16 programmes.

Festival director Nenad Puhovski said the festival committee has this year we more than 1,700 films and tried to choose the best for ZagrebDox visitors.

Puhovski recalled that over the past 15 years the festival had hosted all prominent documentary filmmakers from Croatia, from veteran to young authors, as well as many prominent filmmakers from the region and the rest of the world, which have made it the central documentary event in Zagreb, Croatia and the region.

So far more than 400 people have worked on the festival and more than 1,200 volunteers have been involved.

Almost half of all documentaries chosen for the festival's international programme have been made by young authors, under 35, which heralds a generational change on the world documentary scene.

Among them are two Academy Award nominees, Minding the Gap by Bing Liu, an atmospheric hit from the Sundance Film Festival about American skateboarders on the threshold of adulthood which has won 51 awards, and the British short documentary Black Sheep by Ed Perkins about a young man who chooses an unusual way to fight racial violence.

Tickets for this year's ZagrebDox are available at Kaptol Boutique Cinema, at ticket machines in the cinema's lobby as well as online at kaptolcinema.hr and on the iCineStar mobile application.

ZagrebDox is financially supported by the City of Zagreb and the Croatian Audio-Visual Centre.

More film news can be found in the Lifestyle section.

ZAGREB, February 4, 2019 - A famous Italian cinematographer Vittorio Storaro, an Oscar award winner who has worked with distinguished film directors including Bernardo Bertolucci, Francis Ford Coppola, Warren Beatty, Woody Allen and Dario Argento will be visiting Zagreb on Tuesday and Wednesday, the Academy of Dramatic Art (ADU) said on Monday.

Storaro will hold a masterclass lecture on Wednesday at the F22 ADU hall for students, professors and interested public.

On Tuesday he will make an introductory speech in the Europa cinema as part of a cinema lecture programme dedicated to film classics ahead of a screening of the 1970 film, The Conformist.

Storaro's visit to Zagreb is being organised by the Italian Cultural Institute in cooperation with the Academy of Dramatic Art and Europa Cinema.

Vittorio Storaro was born in Rome in 1940 and was actively involved in photography from an early age. In 1956 he enrolled in the Experimental Film Centre as the youngest student in his generation.

This cinematographer has won several awards. He is a three-times Oscar winner - Apocalypse Now (1980), Reds (1981) and The Last Emperor (1988).

More news on the film and arts in Croatia in general can be found in the Lifestyle section.

“The Grič Club Cinema has ceased its operations after 75 years. Thank you for your loyalty and for your visits.” This is a message posted on the building at 6 Jurišićeva Street in Zagreb, where the Grič art cinema was operating until just last week. The news has saddened numerous fans of films, but also other citizens of Zagreb who mourn the loss of one of the last old cinemas in the city, reports Večernji List on January 16, 2019.

"We could not do anything, because the building in which the cinema is located was denationalized several years ago and returned to the descendants of the owners who have now sold it. The new owner does not want to have a cinema in this space,” says art cinema director Ina Čavlina. In order to continue with the film programme, they are looking for a new venue.

“The cinema requires a large venue that is difficult to find in the city centre. But we are determined to continue with the screenings,” says Čavlina, adding that the primary source of revenue, which enabled them to operate, were grants they received from the Europa Cinemas association.

The cinema could not have operated just with the ticket proceeds, as the entrance fee they charged was only 15 kuna. The building is in bad condition, says Čavlina, and requires a thorough restoration effort.

What will happen with the building constructed in 1940 is still unknown, but the art-cinema representatives say that there is unofficial information that the building will house a small hotel, as well as an outlet for the Burger King fast-food chain. Many citizens believe that would be a shame since it would completely destroy one of the symbols of the capital city. The building was designed by famous architects Drago Ibler and Stjepan Planić, and the cinema changed many names in its history, from Rex and Kleka to Kosmaj.

In 1990, it was renamed Grič, while in 2012 it was taken over by the Culture Club association, with Ina Čavlina as director. It initially screened independent films from the whole world, while in recent years it focused more on European films.

More film news from Croatia can be found in the Lifestyle section.

Translated from Večernji List (reported by Petra Balija).

ZAGREB, December 30, 2018 - Croatia's first SF film for children, "My grandpa fell from Mars", directed by multiple award-winning duo Dražen Žarković and Marina Andree Škop, will play in Croatian cinemas in spring 2019, and it is a heartfelt story about friendship, love and honesty.

The film was coproduced by Zagreb's Studio Dim with partners from Luxembourg, Norway, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina. The screenplay was based on Irena Krčelić's story "My grandpa is an alien".

The film is about Una, a little girl whose life changes in a second after her grandfather is abducted by aliens. In the basement of her house, she discovers that he himself is an alien whose spaceship crashed long ago. The ship's pilot, the small morose robot Dodo, has also stayed on Earth. Dodo and Una have less than 24 hours to find and rescue her grandfather.

While still in development, the film won the BeActive Award for best project and the Prime4Kids&Family Award for best project for children.

The film features state-of-the-art film technology and special effects seen in Croatian cinema for the first time.

"Our film's message is universal: love can inspire life. In today's world, which glorifies individualism, we want to show that it's important to point young people towards company, friendship and love, values with which they will enrich their lives," the directors say.

More news on the Croatian film industry can be found in our Lifestyle section.

The 7th edition of the Zagreb tourism film festival has ended with an award presentation ceremony.