March 23, 2022 - With the 94th Academy Awards just around the corner, Total Croatia News takes a look at some of the major Croatian film festivals celebrating the best of Croatian and international cinema, paving the way for major film festivals in the world.

This Sunday, at the Dolby Theater in Hollywood, the 94th edition of the Academy Awards will be held, celebrating the best of the film industry in 2021. In recent years, the role of international cinema in the film industry has been growing progressively. This was evident at the 92nd Academy Awards, where the Oscar for Best International Feature Film was awarded for the first time, replacing the previously named Best Foreign Language Film. More importantly, it was the fact that it was the first time that a non-English language film had won the prestigious Oscar for Best Picture. This was the case of 'Parasite', from South Korea, directed by Bong Joon-ho, who also won the statuettes for Best Director and Best Original Screenplay.

It seems that, in this last decade, the Academy has decided to reorient its vision of cinema towards a more globalized one, in which we can notice the presence of international films in different categories, thus nominating films, directors, actors, actresses, and scripts from all over the world.

Unfortunately, it could not be the year for Croatian cinema again as it failed to find a place among the best international films. No Croatian film has ever been nominated for Best International Film yet. This year, in particular, saw quite a bit of controversy in the selection process, after ''Murina'', directed by Antoneta Alamat Kusijanović, was not chosen by Croatia as its representative in the race for the Oscars, despite its enormous international recognition at festivals such as Cannes, where it won the Caméra d'Or for Best First Film. Instead, the Croatian candidate was ‘‘Tereza37’’, directed by Danilo Šerbedžija.

The Pula Film Festival, one of the most important Croatian film festivals. (Photo: www.pulafilmfestival.hr)

The road for Croatian filmmakers to the world's major film festivals is long and very competitive, but in recent years the international public has set its sights on this region of the continent, due to its richness in stories stemming from its turbulent past and present. The Bosnian film ''Quo Vadis, Aida?'', nominated in 2021, and the Macedonian film ''Honeyland'', nominated in 2019, are proof of this.

But despite the fact that the dream of every director is to show their stories to all corners of the world, it always starts here, at home. Many start out at student film festivals, or at film festivals organized by their towns or counties. If one investigates enough, they would realize that there are film festivals almost everywhere in Croatia. The Croatian Audiovisual Center, for instance, currently co-finances 60 Croatian film festivals and other audiovisual events. These Croatian film festivals serve various functions: they are particularly important for promoting Croatian audiovisual creation and serve as a platform for screening artistic content and non-commercial film forms, which makes them relevant on a local, regional, national, and, in some cases, international level.

In this article, we review ten Croatian film festivals with great recognition and importance not only for aspiring filmmakers but also for a large audience willing to enjoy good Croatian cinema. Many of these festivals also include workshops and special events for aspiring filmmakers. Pay close attention to the dates of these Croatian film festivals, you may still be in time to buy your ticket, or even submit your own movie or short film!

Zagreb Film Festival

Zagreb (23 – 30 October, 2022 | 20th Edition)

Zagreb Film Festival is one of the central and most visited cultural events and the largest among the Croatian film festivals. It is held during November in Zagreb and presents to its audience the best of newer independent international and local film production. From its beginnings, ZFF’s mission is to discover and promote contemporary independent film and debut films of directors from all over the world. For almost two decades, it has offered a festival, and later also a distribution platform, and it has screened works that are often left out of the programs of multiplex cinemas.

Photo: www.zff.hr

The festival has also played a key role in educating generations of audiences who enjoy film art. The festival program offers diverse film and educational content for all ages and interests, and serves as a platform for the networking of professionals: each edition of the festival gathers around 200 film experts from Croatia and around the world who come to Zagreb to present their films or participate in the festival’s educational programs.

Split Film Festival – International Festival of New Film

Split (1 – 9 September, 2022 | 27th Edition)

Photo: Split Film Festival/Facebook

The Split Film Festival – International Festival of New Film focuses on new, creative, experimental, radical, and subversive films, videos, and new media works. It screens all forms and genres, with a special focus on works diverging from the mainstream film and video production model, regardless of whether it concerns traditional filmmaking techniques or the use of the most recent digital technology.

The competition programme is divided into two parts: feature films and shorts. The festival’s side programme presents web projects, interactive works, performances, special programmes, and retrospectives of local and international filmmakers.

Pula Film Festival

Pula (16 – 23 July, 2022 | 69th Edition)

Photo: www.pulafilmfestival.hr

Pula Film Festival is one of the oldest ongoing film festivals in Europe and the world. Launched in 1954 as the main festival of Yugoslav films, Pula Film Festival became Croatia’s national film festival in 1992. Its main competition programme includes feature fiction films. Alongside other city locations, the festival’s programme takes place in Pula’s amphitheater, popularly called the Arena. It is organized by the Pula Film Festival public institution.

STIFF – Student International Film Festival

Rijeka (November 25 – 28, 2022 | 9th Edition)

Photo: www.studentfilmfestival.eu

STIFF is Croatia’s first International Film Festival dedicated entirely to student films. Established by the SKC Rijeka (Student Cultural Center) and Filmaktiv – the purpose of the festival is to strengthen the student film industry by allowing an insight into the work of other fellow student filmmakers, encouraging the development of new ideas, and establishing international collaborations in the field of media production. STIFF’s main goal is to present the best of student film production from all around the world and help them get their audiences. It strives to educate audiences about the quality of work of emerging filmmakers.

Mediterranean Film Festival Split

Split (16 – 25 June, 2022 | 15th Edition)

Photo: www.fmfs.hr

Mediterranean Film Festival Split takes place annually in June in the city of Split, the second-largest city in Croatia. The Festival's focus are feature and short fiction and documentary films from Mediterranean countries. Besides feature films, great attention is dedicated to the program of short films and the promotion of young authors and their work. The Festival also organizes lectures, workshops, exhibitions, and other side events. In 12 years of its existence, the Festival has become the most visited cultural event in the city of Split. Kino Mediteran project is also part of the FMFS. It is a network of cinemas in 30 small Croatian coastal towns, mostly on islands. 

Croatian Film Days

Zagreb (10 – 14 May, 2022 | 31st Edition)

Photo: www.dhf.hr

The Croatian Film Days are a national festival founded in 1991 devoted to showcasing Croatia’s annual production of short- and medium-length feature, documentary, experimental, animated, and commercial films. The festival is of a competitive nature, with awards handed out by the festival jury, members of the Croatian Film Critic’s Association, and the audience. The organizer is the Croatian Film Association.

Motovun Film Festival

Motovun (26 – 30 July, 2022 | 25th Edition)

Photo: www.motovunfilmfestival.com

The Motovun Film Festival is dedicated to films made within small film industries and by independent productions. The programme consists of feature and short fiction and documentary films. The festival is jointly organized by the Motovun Film Festival, the Istria County, and the Municipality of Motovun.

Vukovar Film Festival – Danube region film festival

Vukovar (Summer, 2022 | 16th Edition)

Photo: www.vukovarfilmfestival.com

Vukovar Film Festival screens films from the Danube and neighboring countries – Slovenia, Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Montenegro, Czech Republic, Greece, Croatia, Hungary, Moldavia, Germany, Romania, Slovakia, Serbia, and Ukraine. It is the only festival that takes place literally on the Danube. The competition programme accepts feature, short fiction, and documentary films, and the jury hands out awards for all three categories. The festival is organized by Discovery Film, the City of Vukovar, and the Croatian House of Vukovar.

ZagrebDox

Zagreb (3 – 10 April, 2022 | 18th Edition)

Photo: ZagrebDox © Julien Duval

ZagrebDox is an international documentary film festival launched in 2005. The Festival is intended to provide audiences and experts insight into the recent documentary films, stimulate national documentary production, and boost international and regional cooperation in co-productions. The festival's competition program has international and regional categories. Besides the competition program, ZagrebDox has a number of non-competition programs – retrospectives and films focused on specific subjects, genres, techniques, and esthetics.

Brač Film Festival

Brač (Summer, 2022 | 8th Edition)

Brač Film Festival is an international feature film festival for emerging filmmakers from Europe and the Mediterranean. Key goals of the Festival are promotion of the first time feature film directors, presentation of short student films, development of film literacy amongst children and youth, and connecting young film professionals with experienced ones. The short film program is the only competition program, where the audience gives prizes for the best short film.

Learn about other Croatian film festivals at the Croatian Audiovisual Centre official website HERE.

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ZAGREB, 11 July, 2021 - The Motovun Film Festival will be held from 27 to 31 July, with recommended epidemiological measures in place due to the pandemic, and it will feature a series of screenings, as well as musical and other events.

The organisers have said that only those with COVID certificates will be able to attend indoor screenings and concerts, as well register in the festival camp.

Everyone will have access to the festival location, and COVID certificates will not be required for outdoor screenings, but visitors will have to keep their distance and the cinema seating capacity will be reduced.

There are no special measures for outdoor events and hospitality establishments until midnight.

For those without a COVID certificate, the festival will organise a testing centre in Motovun, and the schedule and conditions will be announced later.

With this combination of measures, the festival is trying to achieve the best balance between safety and openness to everyone, the organisers said, adding that everyone in their crew has a COVID certificate.

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June 16th, 2021 - The 2021 Motovun Film Festival is located in the heart of the land of truffles. The Motovun Forest is a famous site of precious truffles, and their taste and smell are often the reason that takes travelers to the valley of the Mirna river. That is why this year's festival (July 27-31) begins with the celebrated documentary "Truffle Hunters", which won the hearts of the film world last season.

Fahion.hr reports that the film created by Michael Dweck and Gregory Kershaw premiered at the prestigious Sundance Film Festival and told the story of a group of experienced experts from Piedmont, Italy, seekers of rare and precious truffles longed for by the world's richest chefs and gourmets. While a rich and fashionable culinary world is being taken for their prey, they live the lives of humble individuals, in love with their sniffer dogs, cunningly and silently protecting their world from greed.

Istrian truffle growers will also have the opportunity to tell their stories. In cooperation with their association, Truffle Day will be organized on the festival's first day with socializing and accompanying delicacies from this sought-after tuber.

The opening film is just the beginning of Italian stories because this year's Motovun program also includes three Italian premieres with excellent reviews at prestigious festivals. The winner of the award for the best screenplay is coming from the Venice Film Festival. Predators by director Pietro Castellitt is a black humor story about two seemingly incompatible families. Some are bourgeois intellectuals and others, proletarian fascists. A radical act will lead them to a showdown that reveals that no one is what they seem, but we are all predators in the end.

The film Padrenostro is set in the lead 70s and is based on a real childhood event by director Claudio Noce. After being wounded in a terrorist attack, the hitherto untouchable police chief becomes vulnerable and insecure, and his son seeks solace in a life-changing friendship. Lead actor Pierfrancesco Favino was awarded in Venice for the best role.

With special recognition from the Federation of Italian Cinema Clubs from Venice comes the film Assandiro by the popular Sardinian director Salvatore Mereu. This is another topic that is current for us: the impact of the modern tourism industry on traditional communities and the life changes. The protagonist is a traditional Italian peasant, and his son and daughter-in-law return from Berlin with the idea of ​​turning his estate into a lucrative tourist complex. After that decision, their lives will no longer be the same.

These film treats are brought by the Motovun Film Festival in cooperation with the Italian Institute of Culture. In addition to the main competition program, which will present eighteen premiere titles, Italian authors will be represented in the children's program Buzz @ teen, which takes place in Buzet (July 22-25), as well as in the short program, the winner of which will compete this year. For the European Film Academy Award.

The full festival program will be announced on July 1, when ticket pre-sale begins!

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To get to know Motovun better, click HERE. 

The Motovun Film Festival, which runs from July 23 to July 27, is joining the global action ‘Plastic Free July’, aiming to raise awareness of the harms of single-use plastics, their permanent environmental pollution, and the consequences for living organisms, reports HRTurizam on July 11, 2019.

A simple calculation of last year’s Motovun festival brought some interesting results. The plastic cups that were used each day could build a tower higher than the Motovun hill, which stands at an unbelievable 277 meters above sea level!

Thus, with this year's slogan “Don’t throw our cups away“, the Motovun Film Festival will encourage caterers to pick up cups, straws and plastic utensils during the event. Those engaging in action will be labeled 'PLASTIC FREE', and visitors will be invited to support the caterers in action. Single-use plastic cups will be replaced by reusable ones, which visitors will be able to return for money back or keep as a souvenir.

Greenpeace Croatia is a partner of the festival, whose representatives will host a series of workshops and lectures about the ’shackles of plastic’. 

Their representatives will attend a lecture on Thursday, July 25 at 18:30 to speak about the harmful effects of plastic and, in particular, the microbiology on the environment and life in general, the scale of pollution with all future implications, and solutions for the prevention of further pollution, as well as the ways each individual can actively participate in the promotion of rational and environmentally conscious use of plastics. At that time, activist Marko Capek will use his example of how he completely removed plastics from his life, and will also hold a workshop for making harmless deodorants and sunblocks.

Also on Saturday, July 27, at 18:30, Goran Zgrablić, a chef, sommelier and laser physicist, will hold a mini-course for cooking without waste, after which all the participants will prepare a meal together. 

Within two years, a ban on single-use plastics will be incorporated into the laws of the EU countries and the actions that are currently being undertaken as pioneering efforts will become mandatory.

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ZAGREB, July 25, 2018 - The 21st Motovun Film Festival opened in Motovun in Istria County on Tuesday evening with a screening of Polish director Pawel Maslona's debut Panic Attack, which explores dramatic moments in the lives of several unlucky characters.

ZAGREB, April 12, 2018 - The 21st Motovun Film Festival (MMF) will be held from 24 to 28 July this year and instead of a partner country, Berlin will be the partner, and films, artists, pictures and sounds of that city will be presented in the picturesque Istrian town this year.

From 25-29 July 2017, more than hundred films will be screened in the picturesque Istrian village of Motovun.

Motovun Film Festival is all grown up!

The first rule of hidden screenings: you do not talk about hidden screenings. The second rule of hidden screenings: you do not talk about hidden screenings.