Discoveries from Croatia World Cinema

A war-hardened Crusader and his Moorish commander mount an audacious revolt against the corrupt English crown.

When a couple, traveling on their vacation, meet a desperate girl seeking for her missing sister, they encounter with unspeakable terror and end up as hostages for a sick, bizarre and sadistic twisted mind family led by their deformed monster son.

Centuries after the Great Flood, riders compete in death races on the water to secure shelter for their people behind the walls of Argos. Rebellious storm riders Neb and Ana look to uncover hidden truths by breaking through the storm.

Miljenko, a successful Croatian businessman, recieves the news that his company had just filed for bancruptcy. Things seem to be looking up, however, when his daughter anounces not only her engagement, but also her pregnancy and upcoming nuptuals. The only caveat? The love of her life is none other than the son of the Serbian prime minister.

Routinely, but with dedication, Mare runs her small family’s modest household, even though a new washing machine is not the only thing that is missing. When a chance encounter rekindles her libido, she does not hold back for long.

15-year-old Ahmet, from a remote Yuruk village in North Macedonia, finds refuge in music while navigating his father’s expectations, a conservative community, and his first experience with love — a girl already promised to someone else.

In a world teetering on chaos, elite assassin John Rico is the go-to solution when the government wants threats removed-quietly and permanently. But when a mission goes sideways, he's given one last shot at redemption: track down and eliminate Mason Ryker, the final ghost of the feared underground unit known as The Order of the Dragon. As Rico's mission leads him to a small, danger-ridden town in Serbia, the lines between good and evil begin to blur. Is Ryker the monster he's made out to be, or is there a deeper conspiracy at play? What begins as a black-and-white hit spirals into a moral storm-and time is running out.

In the remote highlands of Montenegro, a shepherd mother and daughter proudly defend their ancestral mountain from the threat of becoming a NATO military training ground, stirring memories of the violence that shattered their family.

The carefree and somewhat idyllic life of a ten year old boy named Marijan is violently interrupted when war ravages his small town of Dalj and his families closest friends and neighbors turn on them purely because they are Croatian. Marijan is forced to witness and experience things an adult would have an incredibly difficult time dealing with. He is nevertheless faced with the inexplicably horrid events war brings out in people. The story centers on a present day Marijan- now the very successful owner of a wood manufacturing business. On one random day a man walks into his store and all of the memories he wishes he could long forget come flooding back, forcing him to relive them. Despite his immense hardships, Marijan lives on in forgiveness, always seeking the positives that lay in the future rather than rehashing and remaining in the past.

A drug smuggling crew from Bosnia-Herzegovina faces chaos when a Syrian migrant's explosives attract ISIS terrorists into the country, forcing them into a deadly game of loyalty and survival on the Bosnia and Herzegovina-Croatia border.

A Chilean woman, Teresa, comes into a firmly structured and isolated mountain community of Croatian shepherds in the early 20th century, claiming to be the widow of their émigré brother. Her arrival changes the dynamics between the members of the community and brings unrest, but also inspiration for other women.

Danko Babic is an ambitious and amoral gynaecologist at Croatia's leading fertility clinic. When his colleague Bantic is appointed as head of the clinic, Babic starts a secret war to overthrow his rival. Distracted by his ruthless campaign he makes series of fatal mistakes that result in the death of a patient. A crooked coroner and a corrupt police officer cover up his misdeeds, while Babic grows increasingly dependant on drugs and alcohol. He begins performing illegal abortions on prostitutes who work for Jedinko, a gangster who controls the local drug and sex trade.

The film follows a boat carrying migrants from various African countries through the Mediterranean sea to Italy. When the boat loses orientation and goes off course, things turn violent as the migrants blame the smugglers. After finally making it to shore, the desperate passengers try to evade police and a few manage to get away.

Anica (60) resists her ongoing chemotherapy while perceiving her daughter’s care as an assault on her dignity. Vlatko (60) is an alcoholic and a loner, completely written off by his work colleagues. Filled with mutual contempt, Anica and Vlatko separated long ago and seemingly no longer communicate. On their drawn-out paths toward oblivion, they search for an ally who will hear their desperate cry for the will to live.

A group of friends sets out on a holiday road trip to Greece. On their way south, they are intercepted by a group of Croatian gangsters. Locked in a remote house, they find themselves struggling for their lives.

A teenage girl decides to replace her controlling father with his wealthy foreign friend during a weekend trip to the Adriatic Sea.

After being employed by the Senator's wife to find the killer of their daughter, a determined detective begins an investigation in which the only evidence he finds are new waves of murders with no sign pointing to the identity of the killer.

Una and an alien robot have 24 hours to find her Grandpa who was kidnapped by aliens. The extraordinary adventure leads to friendship, the rational robotic logic is replaced by emotions and Una's selfless love saves her partly alien family.

A stormy winter approaches and a small Dalmatian island soon becomes more and more deserted. A typical Croatian family featuring members from across the generational pool gathers in a small dilapidated household in order to discuss inheritance. However, the discussion quickly takes a snappy twist as new questions begin to pop up that start bringing the crumbling tradionalist family structure down. One of them, a woman named Anica, is determined to keep the situation afloat, no matter what risks it may pose.

A doctor opens an ordination in the abandoned house of his parents which is supposedly haunted by ghosts, as claimed by its only tenants - the old servant and two maids. He starts having nightmares in which a pretty and young girl shows up.

Socialist Croatia, sometime during the mid-1980s. During a play at a local elementary school, one of the contestants notices that an audience member is acting very suspicously, which piques her curiosity.

An Croatian erotic anthology of seven short stories directed by Irena Skoric, all revolving around sex and relationships. Five of the stories following the intimacies of straight couples, where the 6th and 7th stories revolve around a lesbian couple and a gay couple.

A feature documentary about one of the greatest sportsmen ever. Darko Kralj (the King) is the only sportsman in the history of sports who has beaten a world record in his category five times in a row at one world championship! A Croatian paralympic, seriously wounded in 1991 during the war in Croatia, Darko Kralj almost died. Doctors didn't expect him to survive. Today, he lives with a wife and three sons, the eldest one being the one Darko is the most attached to. A similar destiny brought them together; the kid has lost his biological father in the war. Tereza, his wife, has her own life story. Towards the end of this unusual life story, we shall get a clearer understanding of where Darko's strength and incredible love for life comes from...

ZG80 is a prequel of Metastaze. The movie brings back its characters to prewar Yugoslavia where they, as part of Bad Blue Boys, go on a football match in Belgrade to see Dinamo play against Crvena Zvezda. They encounter guest fans, their arch rivals Delije, in a series of events that lead to football fans war on the streets of Belgrade.

The movie follows middle-aged former scriptwriting star, Roman Novotny, who unwillingly accepts the only job left at his disposal, and that is to be a scriptwriter in a writing department at role playing hotel resort.

Tonina has always taken care of her family, however she never felt like they really reciprocated her with an equal amount of help and love. Believing that it's her given right, she decides to aquire the ownership rights to a small family holiday home on the island of Hvar. However, after the rest of her kin realize what she had done, tensions begin to brew and a small family gathering turns into a turf war.

After a client wiht an unusual birhtmark knocks on the doors of the apartment of a transgender artist, the latter tries to piece together where the two of them have previously met.

A woman and her daughter struggle to make their way through the aftermath of the Balkan war.

A young American is trying to find a man from her past, but he is never to be found, during the largest conflict on European soil since World War II – the battle of Vukovar. It is a search of identity and truth at a place where truth is selective, elusive, and even feared. A quest for faith, connection, and redemption simmers beneath the search.

When the light breaks on a long summer's day in Iceland. From one sunset to another, Una, a young art student, encounters love, friendship, sorrow and beauty.

1993. A passenger train from Belgrade to Bar is stopped by paramilitary forces in an ethnic cleansing operation. As they haul off innocent civilians, only one man dares to stand up to them. This is the true story of a man who could not remain silent.

"The Message" is found footage video composed of speeches by the presidents of all 195 countries. Their messages become one global message. That message is vague, disturbing and does not guarantee a bright future.

Opera adaptation of Marko Marulić's epic poem "Judita" ("Judith"), composed by Frano Parać, with libretto by Frano Parać and Tonko Maroević. Premiered 14th July 2000 in HNK Split (Croatian National Theater Split).

This biopic follows basketball legend Dražen Petrović's life, from his early years in Croatia to his rise to NBA stardom and career cut short by tragedy.

Two days before the wedding, Dragana decides that she will not marry the weak and predictable Momo. His headstrong father Leso strikes a deal with her – to act as the bride just for the day. But instead of saving the family’s honor, it only starts a traumatic farce for everyone involved.

A story about a forbidden love set in a village threatened by swollen rivers. Upon his return home for his father’s funeral, Slaven revives his relationship with his childhood friend, a young sportsman named Marko, his teenage love, and the reason his father kicked him out of the house. Now tempted to reunite, they need to make peace with their own decisions and struggle against the family restraints.

In 1981 in Medjugorje (BA), a group of kids claim that Virgin Mary appeared to them on a hill. The local priest believes them and spreads the word. Religious tourism blossoms. The communist government is concerned and arrests the priest.

Stipan is a policeman who comes to small Adriatic island off the Croatian coast in order to investigate reported strange phenomena that had frightened the whole population. At first, nobody wants to co-operate with him, but he finally finds that the island is being allegedly haunted by the ghost of Josip Broz Tito, Communist leader of former Yugoslavia. For Luka, the mayor, this is the opportunity to turn entire island into Tito-themed amusement park. Tito's WW2 veterans, on the other hand, don't believe in ghosts; for them, the apparition is actually Tito himself, who had returned in order to lead them into a new revolution which would restore Communism. Written by Anonymous

The Zrinski family lineage had produced many great warriors, lovers and even political conspirators. However, the first to put it on the map was Nikola the Seventh Zrinski, who political influence, military prowess and poetic skills made him one of the most influential figures in Europe at the time. In this new docudrama, his life comes on screen for the very first time.

After discovering corruption among the school administration, three seniors and a freshman break into their high school to obtain evidence that would bring the perpetrators to light.

A woman who lost most of her family during the war in Croatia and breakup of Yugoslavia is informed a decade later that her son has been found.

Three stories about the impact of three God's miracles in the medieval sense that happen to the film's heroes living in a post-communist society that, after half a century of atheism, re-learns about Christianity.

Three different love stories, set in three consecutive decades, in two neighbouring Balkan villages burdened with a long history of inter-ethnic hatred: this is a film about the dangers – and the enduring strength – of forbidden love.

At a small border-post on the Yugoslav-Albanian border, yet another generation of soldiers suffering the usual amount of boredom awaits the end of their service, counting days to the moment when they should take their uniforms off for good. It is the spring of 1987 and the thought never even crosses their mind that they would, in fact, put them back on quite soon and go to war.

In the heart of a bustling metropolis, Paula, a lonely street artist, entertains people as a living statue. She longs for an impossible love with Agatha, a stone sculpture next to which she can be found every day. One day, when reaching her familiar spot, she finds her stone companion replaced by an abstract, modern sculpture. After a frantic search, she discovers Agatha cast aside amidst a group of discarded, classical statues who have lost their place in the modernizing sculpture park. As the sun sets, Paula finds herself trying to wake the lonely statue from her stone slumber.

Marina and David, two young artists, no longer feel the same passion that they've had for one another upon the early stages of their relationship. As time goes on, tensions grow and it all reaches a powerful breaking point.

One hundred years after the invention of film, Croatian film icon Mr. Fulir, who serves as the author’s alter-ego, comes up with the Faustian idea to bring back his youth. With a group of famous actors, he enthusiastically attempts to remake lost Croatian films from the silent era.

Four very different people live in the same building but avoid each other because of differences in how they live their lives, what they believe in, and where they come from. They would probably never exchange a word, but misfortune pushes them towards each other. Their lives entangle in ways that profoundly challenge deep-held beliefs and prejudices surrounding material status, sexual orientation, nationality and religion. Slowly, and even painfully, they begin to open up to each other and recognize the essential humanity each of them possesses.

While the battle rages around an emptied city, one citizen battles loneliness through a variety of daily rituals.

Based on a true story of a meeting in June 1945 between two powerful men with very opposite philosophies and perspectives on the future of their country.

A young woman leaves for New York to collect the belongings of her deceased great aunt Gea Koenig, slowly growing to understand the art and meaning of preserving moments through photographs.

Life Is a Trumpet has a loose jazz musician as the groom, a butcher as his father, and two families of different backgrounds whose members are not as different as one might expect.

A pregnant French woman lives in Sarajevo with her Bosnian husband and their daughter. They vacation at a Croatian island, where things get complicated when they all become attracted to a beautiful woman.

Four close friends, Lovro (21), Nenad (20), Stevan (22), and Ivan (20), fought against the Ustashas and Nazis by joining the partisans in WWII. Sixteen years later, they became renowned filmmakers. In 1957, in Communist Yugoslavia, their sexual orientation raises suspicion, and a communist party loyalist named Emir (52) is assigned to sabotage their careers and lives. The pursuit of freedom becomes a fight for survival for the artists, while Emir's beliefs are challenged.

At the beginning of 1991, Yugoslav army did not acknowledge Croatian's independence, and still holding few military barracks in Croatia. Gajski travels to an island to get his son out of the army. Locals have besieged the barracks and organized a festival to try with singing and recitals to get major Aleksa and his soldiers to surrender, but Aleksa has explosives thru the barracks and wants to blow up the island.

Denni is a 10-year-old boy with a mission: to save his mother from his father's violence. For this he devises a foolproof plan: he will have his father killed by a super-killer. Too bad the super-killer he comes across is Secco, who only looks like a criminal and, above all, desperately needs money.

In a lush and lively forest lives a hedgehog. He is at once admired, respected and envied by the other animals. However, Hedgehog’s unwavering devotion to his home annoys and mystifies a quartet of insatiable beasts: a cunning fox, an angry wolf, a gluttonous bear and a muddy boar. Together, the haughty brutes march off towards Hedgehog’s home to see just what is so precious about this “castle, shiny and huge.” What they find amazes them and sparks a tense and prickly standoff.

In this black comedy drama, we meet a seemingly perfect family consisting of Olivia, Alexander and their daughter Agata. With the arrival of 25-year-old Julian in their home, their lives are turned upside down and their dysfunctional relationships are revealed. Redemption through humour explores the theme of emotionally drained elites and places it in the context of contemporary social issues.

A wealthy young couple has a different lifestyle than a neighboring middle-aged couple, but both face intimate issues that impact their private lives.

An ex-soldier storms a supermarket and takes all the cashiers captive because one of them insulted his grandmother.