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.

For more, check out our lifestyle section.

As reported by zagrebinfo, tickets for films from the main competition program of this year's Zagreb Film Festival sold out during the first three days of the festival, and the audience is requesting 'additional tickets' for both morning and afternoon screenings.

The festival’s organizers also reported that they have sold ten percent more pre-sale tickets at the beginning of the festival. In addition to requests for additional tickets, they are continually getting inquiries as to whether the films will receive cinema distribution.

They note that the considerable interest once again shows that the Zagreb audience is very eager for new quality titles and is not ready to abandon the tradition of watching movies together.

The first sold-out season of tickets was opened by Taika Waititi's film “Jojo Rabbit” from the “Together Again” program, and all five screenings of the films from the main feature film competition at Tuškanac Cinema were sold out within the first three days.

"We are extremely pleased that our audience welcomed directors Ena Sendijarević and Ivana Mladenović on Friday and Saturday with such large numbers and interest at the screenings of their debut works 'Take Me Somewhere Nice' and 'Ivana the Terrible'." The organizers also noted that the films “Monos”, “Beanpole” and “Patrick” received an enthusiastic response and they expressed their gratitude to the audience.

The seventeenth edition of the Zagreb Film Festival offers more than a hundred films across 12 programs and runs through November 17th. There are 11 feature films, 10 international films and 10 Croatian short films from the “Checkers” program, which are in the race for the festival awards. The festival takes place in as many as eight Zagreb venues, and is being hosted in some twenty cities across Croatia.

A complete festival program and schedule can be found on the 2019 Zagreb Film Festival website.

Follow our dedicated lifestyle page for more information on events in Croatia.

November 2, 2019 - One hundred films, 12 programs, 11 days, 8 Zagreb venues and 20 cities all over Croatia, is this year’s Zagreb Film Festival in numbers. 

T.portal writes that the 17th edition of the Zagreb Film Festival opens on November 7 at Lauba and will last until November 17 at various locations across the capital, including the Tuskanac Cinema, KIC Hall, Museum of Contemporary Art, Dubrava National University, Travno Cultural Center, Croatian Music Institute, F22 - New Academic Stage and HUB385.

Zagreb Film Festival Director Boris T. Matic opened the press conference at the Croatian Music Institute and announced that the visual identity of this year’s festival is dedicated to the Europa Cinema and its distinctive colorful neon lights., which closed to the public just a few months ago.

"We are only seventeen years old, feeling younger and younger, our colleagues from other places have received us, and we are extremely fortunate that our sponsors, regardless of the whole situation, firmly believed in us and stayed with us," Matic said at the press conference.

This year’s festival will last a record eleven days in order to screen the hundred films and honor contracts with sponsors and patrons. 'We are a bit displaced and we were on our knees, but with our heads up and our hearts full, we are moving on. We hope the audience will be happy,” Matic said, referring to the painful closing of the Europa Cinema. 

This year’s Golden Pram program will showcase 11 feature films, 10 international and 10 Croatian short films from the Checkers program. The competition brings as many as four Oscar nominees - Russian, Belgian, Colombian and Danish, the winner of the Sundance Audience Award, the Best Debut of Cannes Criticism Week, the winner of the Sarajevo Film Festival and others. 

The program also gives insight into the five most important European cinematographies – France, Italy, Germany, United Kingdom and Spain, boasts a children’s program, 'My First Film', which presents debut works by great directors who have passed away in the last two years, 'LUX Film Days', 'Fragments from the Exile', 'Two Berlins' and 'Festivals from the Spotlight'. You can explore the Zagreb Film Festival program in its entirety here.

Richard Breskovic, director of the Marketing Division at Hrvatski Telekom, said they were proud to be a part of the festival, which is of great importance for Croatian cinema and Croatian culture. "We are not someone who gives up and is afraid, the festival has good content and that is why we continue to support it," he said. Hrvatski Telekom is the general sponsor of the festival and, traditionally, delivers exclusive film content through the MAXtv platform with films from ZFF, and through the MAXtv To Go service.

As part of the Zagreb Film Festival program travels in November, part of the program will be shown in 20 Croatian cities, including Bjelovar, Dubrovnik, Ivanec, Koprivnica, Prelog, Rijeka, Rovinj, Samobor, Slatina, Split, Šibenik, Varaždin, Velika Gorica, Zadar , Sv. Ivan Zelini, Hvar, Omiš, Bol, Podgora and Imotski.

To read more about lifestyle in Croatia, follow TCN’s dedicated page. 

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