Zagreb Film Festival (ZFF) this year for the first time, instead of traditional October, takes place in November, (14-22), will last one day longer and wellcome its guests and participants on its usual city locations. 

From Wednesday, 20 May, films can be submitted for the Festival Competition; the application deadline is 15 August for International Competition, and 20 September for Checkers section Competition. The competition, as usual, includes debut (first and second) feature and short fiction films. This year’s ZFF competition focuses on fiction films, while documentary films will be shown only in off-competition sections. Croatian filmmakers can submitt their films up to 30 minutes of duration for the Checkers competition, by 20 September. The online application form is available on the official Festival website.

Since the very beginning, Zagreb Film Festival has been programatically focused on the presentation and promotion of debut films and new filmmakers. 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, with a systematic promotion of Croatian short film. Checkers are celebrating their 10th birthday this year with additional events and activities.

Film devotees will surely be thrilled at the news that this year the festival celebrate 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.

To the other sections, My First Film, as selected by film critic Nenad Polimac, this year includes debut films by acknowledged Bosnian and Herzegovinian directors. The Great Five, traditionally, comprises five select works from five of the finest European cinemas (UK, 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, young filmmakers and all the interested participants. Industry includes the 4th edition of My First Script workshop for filmmakers writing a script for their first feature film. The call for the workshop is open and closes on 15 July, and information regarding the application procedure can be found here. 

Besides, an open call for scholarships for an MFA program of the prestigious Sarajevo-based film.factory, whose curriculum was designed by one of the greatest directors of today, Béla Tarr, was recently opened. The scholarship covers the entire tuition for a two-year course (amounting to € 25,000), and ZFF is awarding it (in association with film.factory) to one applicant from Croatia.

The 13th Zagreb Film Festivl will take place November 14 to 22, 2015.