altcine - Highlights of the 13th Zagreb Film Festival

This year΄s Zagreb Film Festival (November 14 to 22) will warm up its faithful audience with a selection of the finest film titles.

“The feature program includes the record-breaking 14 titles from all over the world, from Scandinavia to the Pacific islands of Vanuatu, 13 (debut or second feature films) of them in competition”, the festival΄s managing director, Boris Matic, commented.

Uliks Fehmiu and Nina Violic in Ines Tanovic΄s Our Everyday Life

ZFF 2015 will open with the Un Certain Regard winner at Cannes 2015, Rams by Grímur Hákonarson (Iceland/Denmark, 2015). Other films included in the Feature Films Competition, are Olmo Omerzu΄s Family Film, Our Everyday Life by Ines Tanovic, the Croatian co-production Sparrows by Runar Runarson, as well as the Cannes 2015 Grand Prix winner Son of Saul by Laszlo Nemes) and A War by Tobias Lindholm.

The Jury of Feature Films Competition program is comprised of filmmakers Levan Koguashvili, Jessica Woodworth and producer Christoph Thoke.

The Short Film Competition will screen, among others, Ziya Demirel΄s Tuesday, while, the Checkers Croatian Shorts Competition (see the films here), celebrating its 10th anniversary has included 11 shorts, and organised a panel on short film placement and distribution, with participation of Laurence Raymond, short film manager for the Cannes Film Festival’s Director’s Fortnight program and Salette Ramalho, one of the directors of Curtas Vila do Conde Film Festival.

After being screened in the most prestigious European film festivals, the three LUX Film Days 2015 finalists, The Lesson by Kristina Grozeva & Petar Valchanov, Mustang by Deniz Gamze Ergüven and Mediterranea by Jonas Carpignano will get their viewing in ZFF too.

Mustang by Deniz Gamze Erguven

Together Again non-competition section is hosting films by acclaimed filmmakers whose debutant and second works were shown in ZFF΄ main competition program in the past years. Aferim! by Radu Jude is included, among the latest films from Joachim Trier, Matteo Garrone and others. My First Film sidebar program this year focuses on Bosnia-Herzegovina, screening 5 ex-Yugoslavian films from the past.

On other sidebar screenings, feature a retrospective on Orson Welles, making-off documentaries on some famous films and five Eastern European horrors from the past.

ZFF΄s Industry 2015 will be focusing on inter-festival collaboration, presenting a film selection from Cannes΄ Directors’ Fortnight and the Curtas Vila do Conde Film Festival. This year’s program also features attractive master classes by experienced filmmakers and the fourth edition of My First Script workshop, as well as the on-going collaborations with Sarajevo Film Festival and Sarajevo Film Academy’s film-factory program.

Zagreb Film Festival 2015, will close with an out-of-competition screening of Zagreb Stories Vol 3, an omnibus six shorts film made by Croatian filmmakers.