This year’s prestigious Eurimages Co-Production Award will be presented to successful Croatian film producer Ankica Jurić Tilić at a ceremony at the European Film Academy in Berlin on December 7th.

This award highlights the importance of co-production partnerships in fostering international dialogue and the contributions of women to the success of film co-productions. The prize is awarded by Eurimages, a Council of Europe cultural assistance fund established in 1988. Since its inception, Eurimages has financially supported 2047 co-productions totaling around € 597 million.

Ankica Jurić Tilić graduated in comparative literature and French language and literature from the Faculty of Philosophy, University of Zagreb and has over 25 years of professional experience.

In 2003, she founded the Kinorama production company, along with two partners. While Kinorama's artistic team is equally composed of new and established talent; special attention is given to first time directors and new voices. Kinorama’s projects are regularly presented at numerous international production markets and developed at film workshops.

As a producer, Ankica has 30 feature film credits, several TV series and many short films. Her most recent Eurimages-backed feature films are: Ne gledaj mi u pijat (Quit Staring at My Plate) - Hana Jušić (Fedeora Award at Venice Days 2016, more than 30 film awards, and Croatian nominee for Oscar) and Zvizdan (The High Sun) - Dalibor Matanić (Jury Award in the Un Certain Regard Cannes Film Festival 2015, 30 film Awards, LUX Prize nomination, and Croatian nominee for Oscar).

Among Kinorama’s recent co-productions are Eurimages-backed films: Izbrisana (Erased) - Miha Mazzini and Dušan Joksimović, Teret (The Load) - Ognjen Glanović, Zora (The Dawn) - Dalibor Matanić and Illyricum - Simon Bogojević Narath.

Ankica is a graduate and lecturer at the international professional school EAVE - European Audiovisual Entrepreneurs, a member of ACE Producers, Producers on the Move and the European Film Academy. She teaches at the Academy of Dramatic Arts in Zagreb and participates as a mentor, panelist and lecturer at many international film events.

Follow our Lifestyle page here to keep up to date on entertainment news in Croatia.

November 28, 2019 - The latest news from around Croatia’s airports for new flights to Croatia with updates from Dubrovnik, Rijeka, and Zadar. 

Ex Yu Aviation announced that LOT Polish Airlines would launch a seasonal service between Budapest and Dubrovnik next year. The new route will operate from June 7 and run once a week, on Sundays, until September 27. 

This will be the third city LOT services to Dubrovnik, in addition to Warsaw and Krakow.You can find more details about the new Budapest - Dubrovnik route here.

Avio Radar reported that Irish low-cost carrier Ryanair will boost the Cologne/Bonn-Zadar route for next summer. The line only started operating this year with two flights per week. Next summer, Ryanair will run three flights a week, and in addition to Wednesdays and Sundays, they will service Zadar on Mondays from the beginning of June to the end of September 2020. A Boeing 737-800 aircraft flies on all Ryanair lines. 

Avio Radar also reported that Serbia’s national air carrier Air Serbia would suspend traffic between Belgrade and Rijeka during the winter. The last flight is scheduled for December 5, 2019. A few more flights around the New Year remain on offer. The line will then continue to operate on a regular basis from May 1, 2020, according to the summer flight schedule, which runs twice a week on Tuesdays and Fridays. Compared to this year, Air Serbia will begin operations to Rijeka one month earlier than in 2019. An ATR-72 runs on this line. 

To end this week of flight news, Dalmacija Danas reported that the Split Architectural Bureau of Ante Kuzmanić is the winner of a competition for the conceptual architectural and urban design of the Zadar Airport passenger terminal. A group of Split architects designed the extension and renovation of the existing terminal building and parking lot. They received a prize of 250,000 kuna for the project. The competition was conducted by the Society of Zadar Architects.

The projects were evaluated by a jury chaired by academician Nikola Bašić, who said that if the conceptual design is transformed into a design project, Zadar Airport will be the most modern airport in Croatia, as it combines all the new parameters that make such an object comfortable and safe.

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

Croatian teachers are still continuing to strike for their rights as the unions give the Croatian Government's recent offer the thumb's down. The situation has escalated and somehow managed to become even more absurd than it was before. 

Is this one of those moments where one says the dreaded words ''only in Croatia'' when referring to something bordering on insanity? Probably. If you're not entirely sure exactly why Croatian teachers are striking, click here for the clear and simple reasons as to how this started, and why it's continuing after such a long time.

As Poslovni Dnevnik/VLM writes on the 28th of November, 2019, Croatian teachers, their representative unions and others on strike from the education sector have remained deeply unsatisfied with the latest offer from the government.

The government and the unions have now found themselves in a rather absurd situation indeed - after more than thirty days of striking, the Croatian Government has now gone from not offering enough, to offering even more than the unions demanded, which stood at an average of 342 kuna.

As stated, the strikers, however, remain totally unhappy because the raise would be driven by an increase in the base wage rather than the coefficient. Strange? Yes, completely. Only in Croatia? Maybe.

Here are the facts as they currently stand when it comes to Croatian teachers, what is being offered by the government, and why the dissatisfaction continues:

- The average salary of Croatian teachers is now 7291 kuna net per month

- If we contains the latest government offer, that amounts to 8139

- By increasing the base by the end of 2020, the take home pay for Croatian teachers would increase to 8139 kuna monthly

What are the unions looking for now?

- By increasing the coefficient of 6.11 percent, the average Croatian teacher's salary is rising to 7793 kuna net

- The absurdity now is that, through the growth of the base pay, the government is offering 342 kuna more than the unions are seeking by increasing the coefficient

Make sure to follow our dedicated lifestyle and politics pages for much more on the unfolding situation with the striking Croatian teachers and what the government is prepared to do to end the situation.

ZAGREB, November 28, 2019 - Nine Croatian MEPs supported the new European Commission headed by Ursula von der Leyen, while two independent MEPs, Mislav Kolakušić and Vilibor Sinčić, voted against.

Of 707 lawmakers attending the plenary, the Commission won the support of 462, while 157 voted against and 89 abstained.

MEP Ruža Tomašić from the European Conservatives and Reformists Party (ECR) is not satisfied with most of von der Leyen's programme.

"She got my vote simply for pragmatic reasons. Namely, I intend to work intensively with the commissioner for agriculture who is also in my parliamentary group, in an effort to improve Croatia's agriculture. I also plan to successfully complete the multiannual plan for pelagic fish in the Adriatic, which is not possible without the Commission's support," said Tomašić.

Tonino Picula (SDP/S&D) congratulated the new Commission on receiving overwhelming support in the European Parliament and expressed his satisfaction that one of the Commission's priorities was to continue enlargement to the Western Balkans.

More news about the European Parliament can be found in the Politics section.

ZAGREB, November 28, 2019 - During its chairmanship of the European Union in the first half of 2020, Croatia will advocate for the continuation of southeast European aspirants' journey to the European Union, as Zagreb finds this important for the transformation, peace and stability in the region, Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said in parliament on Wednesday.

Plenković presented to Croatian lawmakers a report on the 17-18 October European Council meeting during which European leaders in Brussels discussed a new institutional framework of the European Union, enlargement process, Brexit, a new seven-year budget of the European Union, climate change and the developments in Turkey.

The European Council failed to reach an unanimous decision on opening accession negotiations with North Macedonia and Albania, as France, the Netherlands and Denmark were opposed to the opening despite the fact that the European Commission gave a green-light for the start of their membership talks.

The European Council is expected to put this topic again on its agenda before a summit meeting of the EU and southeastern European countries, set for May in Zagreb, Plenković said.

Plenković explained reasons why Croatia found it important for the enlargement process to continue.

Enlargement is important for transformation of the countries that are still outside the bloc, he said adding that Croatia is aware of its importance for peace and stability particularly in the southeast of Europe.

The process of accession is good lever to undertake reform processes concerning democratic values, strengthening of the legal system and reforms aimed at making those aspirants functional market economies, he added.

This is also important for the sake of good neighbourly relations, resolution of outstanding issues, respect of human and minority rights, he added.

We also conduct consultations with key partners in the Union, new leaders of EU institutions as well as with neighbouring countries so as to really calibrate the expectations of those who would like to go forward, in parallel to being acquainted with details, moods and real possibilities of EU members, he said.

In cooperation with the new European Council President, Charles Michel, we must find a balance and send political messages that will pave the way for a road-map for the decade ahead of us, he said.

Plenković reiterated four umbrella areas for Croatia's presidency: a Europe that develops, connects and protects and is influential on the global scene.

Croatia will continue to work on its two strategic priorities. its Schengen membership bid and its preparations for the euro adoption.

More news about Croatia and the Western Balkans region can be found in the Politics section.

ZAGREB, November 28, 2019 - Caritas Croatia has launched a campaign of quick assistance for the victims of a recent earthquake in Albania and sent a quick financial assistance amounting to 10 000 euros to the Caritas Albania, Caritas Croatia reported on Wednesday.

"We sympathise with the people in Albania whose lives have dramatically changed in a brief moment, who lost their loved ones or whose fate is still unknowns. With this modest but concrete help and with prayers we want to show unity in this difficult situation for them," said Fabijan Svalina, the head of Caritas Croatia.

He called on Croatian citizens and companies to join the campaign and express solidarity with the victims.

The earthquake death toll rose to 27 with hundreds of Albanian citizens seeking medical assistance after the quake struck the country's capital Tirana and its surrounding area in the early morning hours of Tuesday.

The epicentre was about 30 kilometres west of Tirana and was felt throughout the Balkans, and in southern Italy.

More news about charity drives can be found in the Lifestyle section.

Following the recent and tragic earthquake which struck nearby Albania, and which was felt quite strongly across Dalmatia, from Dubrovnik all the way up to Zadar, an exercise called Preparedness 2019 was held in Croatia's southernmost municipality of Konavle, which lies just south of the City of Dubrovnik and right next to the Montenegrin border.

The fact that Preparedness 2019 was held precisely in Konavle is not only meaningful because of its geographical location, being in the extreme south of the country and close to tiny Montenegro which of course borders Albania, where the epicentre of the recent earthquake was located, but because Dubrovnik and its surrounding areas have always been vulnerable to earthquakes in the past.

A devastating earthquake struck Croatia's southernmost city way back in 1667, and the entire city was totally destroyed and around 5,000 residents tragically lost their lives.

As Morski writes on the 28th of November, 2019, the Civil Protection Headquarters of Dubrovnik-Neretva County held the staff-command exercise, called Preparedness 2019, in the gorgeous rolling hills of Konavle. The exercise was attended by the chiefs of civil defense staff of the City of Dubrovnik and the municipalities of Župa Dubrovačka (Parish of Dubrovnik) and of course the Konavle Municipality.

The topic of the Preparedness 2019 exercise was the engagement and coordination of civil protection operational forces in the event of an earthquake hitting Dubrovnik-Neretva County once again, and according to the played out scenario of this particular exercise, the wider Dubrovnik area would be affected, with the epicentre of the potential earthquake being in Konavle.

The objective of the exercise was to test the capabilities of the local civil protection operations forces should such an incident occur in the area, to see how their activation is, and to further enhance the forces' overall familiarisation with the planning documents in the field of civil protection.

Make sure to follow our dedicated lifestyle page for much more.

November 28, 2019 - The City of Dubrovnik has actively begun the second phase of the Destination Sustainability Measurement Project, which is being implemented by the Global Council for Sustainable Tourism (GSTC) for the city government. 

HRTurizam writes that this body is implementing the report based on the criteria for sustainable tourism and destination management established by the United Nations and it is estimated to be completed in January 2020. In addition to the plan for managing the protected city of Dubrovnik, which is also under construction, it is a crucial document that will define the current degree of sustainability and which will define further steps in managing the destination to achieve sustainable tourism.

Yesterday in Lazareti, an initial meeting of GSTC council member and Mediterranean director Ioannis Pappas met with Dubrovnik Mayor Mato Frankovic, his associates and a wide range of stakeholders in Dubrovnik tourism: city councilors, utility companies directors, representatives of travel agencies, police, associations and organizations related to tourism and others.

Mayor Frankovic gave the opening address and emphasized the importance of tourism sustainability in the context of the city's ‘Let's Respect the City’ project that the city administration has been implementing since 2017. As a critical element of the city and Dubrovnik tourism management, he emphasized cooperation with the Dubrovnik Port Authority by regulating the number of cruisers and at the same time, managing the number of day-trips to the old city center by using online vouchers for buses and informing stationary guests with smart city tools. In addition to presenting the existing measures, he announced future moves that would be introduced gradually, to make Dubrovnik an even better place to live and, consequently, for tourists.

Pappas presented the methodology of measuring sustainability, emphasizing that active cooperation of all actors involved in Dubrovnik tourism is of paramount importance for this phase. Numerous workshops, focus groups and one-on-one interviews are scheduled over the next seven days, and Pappas invited anyone interested to submit their comments, ideas, suggestions, and ask questions, discuss issues and opportunities. Based on these consultations and policy analysis, GSTC will evaluate the current performance of the destination using the prescribed criteria and indicators.

Upon the completion of the analysis, an evaluation of the activities to date will be presented to the Dubrovnik public and the city government will receive concrete, practical guidance for improving results in the most essential areas of destination sustainability: destination management, benefits to the local economy, life and cultural wellbeing, and protection of nature and natural resources. The sponsor of the project is the Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA), a partner of the City of Dubrovnik and a signatory to the Cooperation Agreement for the Preservation and Protection of the Cultural Heritage of Dubrovnik. The City of Dubrovnik is one of the 30 world destinations for which GSTC will conduct a Destination Assessment and the only destination measured by CLIA.

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