13th Zagreb Film Festival – 14-22 November 2015
Since the very beginning, Zagreb Film Festival has been programatically focused on the presentation and promotion of debut films and new filmmakers. The main festival competition has so far included directors like Anton Corbijn, Steve McQueen, Radu Jude, Xavier Dolan, Andrei Zviagintsev, Uberto Pasolini, Alexandros Avranas, even George Clooney. The Checkers competition introduced and acquainted the broader audience with new names on the local film scene, later acknowledged not only among national filmmakers, but also on the international festival scene (e.g. Matija Kluković, Juraj Lerotić, Sara Hribar, Hana Jušić, Ivan Sikavica, Sonja Tarokić, Tin Žanić etc.), with a systematic promotion of Croatian short film. Checkers are celebrating their 10th birthday this year with additional events and activities.
Zagreb Film Festival this year for the first time, instead of traditional October, takes place in November, more accurately 14-22 November, on the usual city locations (cinemas Europa and Tuškanac, MSU, Zagreb Dance Centre etc.). Also, the Festival this year takes one day longer, which means more screenings, films and programs.
Film devotees will surely be thrilled at the news that this year we are celebrating the 100th birthday and 30th death anniversary of Orson Welles with a retrospective of his films, as this director relates a large part of his work to Croatia. The film program will be accompanied by an exhibition and a publication of a collection of Orson Welles’ interviews to the local media.
My First Film, as selected by film critic Nenad Polimac, this year includes five debut films by acknowledged Bosnian and Herzegovinian directors, The Great Five, traditionally, comprises five select works from five of the finest European cinemas (United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy and Spain), and this year’s categories Bib for Kids and Bib PLUS will present films for children and young audience.
The Industry section, intended for educational and practical contents is organising a series of workshops, lectures, panels and other programs intended for film professionals, young filmmakers and all the interested participants, covering different aspects of film production. Industry includes the 4th edition of My First Screenplay workshop, organised for filmmakers writing a script for their first feature film. The three previous editions included altogether 18 projects from different European countries, many of them on the safe road of realisation. For example, this year, Croatian projects Zbornica by Sonja Tarokić and Garbura by Josip Žuvan (2013 participants), as well as the script of The Katanga Man by last year’s participant Radislav Jovanov Gonzo, were allocated funds by the Croatian Audiovisual Centre for project development.
The general sponsor of the Festival is Croatian Telecom, and the festival is financially backed by City of Zagreb Office for Culture, Croatian Audiovisual Centre and Creative Europe – MEDIA Sub-programme.
The Festival is organised by Zagreb Film Festival Artistic Organisation.