Discoveries from Croatia World Cinema

The auteur's birthplace as seen through his camera.

Istrian traditions, singing, culinary delights. All that in the time-honoured ritual of pig slaughter or prašćina. What is the importance of meat today and can we give up its utilitarian rudimentarity in the face of political, ecological, nutritionist, and other contemporary trends?

Gnothi Seauton (know thyself) is a feature documentary about a Croatian brother and sister skiers who, in spite of coming from poverty in a country with no snow, set out to become Olympic skiing champions. Together have won 10 Olympic medals. Their struggle to win and overcome injuries makes this story full of sacrifice, courage and fantastic success.

My sister decided to name her son Benjamin.

Planes, tanks, bombs, assault rifles, media and propaganda – they were all weapons used in the Homeland War. However, it was the songs that were were louder than everything else. Some used them to describe the nightmare around them, others manifested their political loyalty. The national television and radio considered songs an important means of political “struggle”, so they commissioned, financed, recorded and aired them intensively. Even some twenty years after these events, the wartime soundtrack still draws attention and triggers emotions.

Memoirs of a Broken Mind is a feature film about a man and a society, compilation of thoughts about life and time that surrounds us. Main character self interrogates himself and tries to give a response to a question about the true value of human existence that we may have forgotten. This film represents emotional and sometimes surreal " ride " through states of consciousness . It is a "ride" of the one who does not fit in the World, and tries to comprehend whether the World is falling apart or it is him that is broken.

In 1992, a group of Croatian guerrilla fighters go on the occupied territory in the area of Gospic, in order to save imprisoned Croatian soldiers from the Serbian camp. During the action of release and its aftermath, the group encounters a number of obstacles...

The doyen of national theater, Dado Telebuh, goes through psychological crisis after being dumped by his lover Ivan Starcevic, who got involved in a romantic relationship with Jurica Pavicic. Alone in his apartment, Dado tries to find comfort in all-night telephone conversations via SOS service, who provide him with psychological support in the form of nun called Sanja Separovic. For his characters, much disputed Croatian director Jakov Sedlar used real names of the film critics and public figures who disdained his cinematic work.

Our Problems is a short animated film about the importance of everyday pleasures, difficulties and issues from the protagonist's point of view, and their relative immateriality compared to the WHOLE UNIVERSE. The greatest problem in the world is the greatest only in this world and no matter how big and important we think it is, the rest of the universe is oblivious of it.

This film tells about how women idealise and romanticise love affairs, and all they do and tolerate to be loved.

Structural film by Ivan Faktor, an exploration of the meta-medial potential of television.

As the TMK 201 tram makes its final rounds through the city, a young couple goes through a relationship crisis.

Returning to her hometown, the filmmaker captures the inspiring story of Sely, a rebellious huntress, exploring themes of female empowerment, intergenerational friendship, and self-realisation through vivid, archival visuals.

Edge of Heaven is a short film about the perception of life after a personal loss. Using experimental visuals, land-art and soundscapes, the natural world becomes a decor to express the unsayable.

Through interaction within the objects in her bag, a half-human, half-dog being known as the Doglady begins to understand each facet of her existence and being.

On the 24th of June 2024 mum bought me a toaster, and my life has changed forever.

We invite you on a journey into the realms of the subconscious where you will question the nature of reality and perception. Disappearing is a short film that takes you into the realms of the subconscious and gives you the impression that, just like in dreaming, you have generated the images yourself, even though you don't know why. The film explores the claim of material reality, that matter is just a vibration of energy, that reality is not as we perceive it and that there is much more that we don't see.

We invite you on a journey into the realms of the subconscious where you will question the nature of reality and perception. Disappearing is a short film that takes you into the realms of the subconscious and gives you the impression that, just like in dreaming, you have generated the images yourself, even though you don't know why. The film explores the claim of material reality, that matter is just a vibration of energy, that reality is not as we perceive it and that there is much more that we don't see.

A short experimental documentary about Aldin Petrić, who was dismissed from the Croatian army in 1998 after telling an officer that he was gay.

Teenager Deni wants to live like his rap idols, but he's still his mom's baby. In an effort to prove himself to his classmate and school bully, Kelam, he commits a minor crime. When the police come to Deni's home, he's ready to confess, but his mom has other plans.

Through the lense of a Super 8 camera, director Petra Belc Krnjaić captures the ups and downs of parenthood, blurring the lines between everyday life and scientific principles.

In April of 1992, Croatian soldier Ivan Faktor and three of his comrades record their journey in a bordeaux van from their wartorn hometown of Osijek to the Danish capitol of Copenhagen with a camera.

Kristina, the newly arrived mailwoman on a small Croatian island, befriends the strange local elderly woman named Rozalija, however, their friendship is put to the test when the former learns that the latter is a štriga, a shapeshifting supernatural creature.

In a small depopulated village, two of its last elderly inhabitants rely only on each other's company to not only survive, but also keep their crumbling sanity at bay.

On the island of Šipan, 52-year-old Emir Slaković lives the authentic life of a Dalmatian farmer. Surrounded by a house resembling a museum of the old Dubrovnik region, traditional tools, a rich library and ship models, Emir defies the fast-paced, modern world every day. The film, through his routine, work and free time, brings an intimate and poetic dedication to the former way of life, the island and the cultural heritage that is slowly disappearing. This is a film about work, identity and time that is disappearing, but also a film about Emir – a film about a man!

Marija Jurić Zagorka is often crowned as the most important woman of 20th century Croatian history. She was the country's first feminist, first bestselling author, a fashion icon and a pioneer in women's journalism. But who was she behind all of those established titles?

Sina uses found footage to evoke the or legal traumas of the protagonist.

Colourfully patterned scarves have a long but now almost forgotten tradition in Southeast Europe. Playful animations depict the cultural change after the Yugoslavian war, but also the story of a small factory in Zagreb that brings this heritage back to life – and just like them, the film makes joyful use of an almost inexhaustible variety of patterns.

The 2020 Petrinja earthquake is remembered as the largest natural disaster in the town's history, forcing hundreds of its inhabitants to reolcate to what they were told were temporary living quarters. Little did they know that that might last longer than they were promised.

Jelena is conducting a population census. She knocks on the door of Marko, her former friend. What begins as Jelena’s job slowly turns into a quiet companionship in which the two unravel the layers of their past friendship.

Pavilion 22 deals with one of the darkest episodes of recent Croatian history - the events in the infamous pavilion at the Zagreb Fair in 1991. The film reveals a completely unknown and dark side of the events that took place within the Zagreb Fair complex in the fall of 1991 when war broke out. Originally conceived as a center for the mobilization of police reserve forces, the pavilion soon became a transit camp for all suspects, mainly of Serbian nationality, from where many were taken to Pakračka Poljana by the so-called Mercep unit.

Two roommates navigate the ups and downs of shared living, which take an unexpected turn when a mysterious visitor joins them one night.

Kec, an amateur boxer, prepares for a tournanametn, dutifuly performing the tasks given to him by his coach.

Whilst sitting on their balcony on a seemingly calm night, our narrator describes the events taking place in their neighbourhood. However, things seemingly start to take a malicous turn.

Being a nurse is a special calling that only a few individuals can really find themselves in. But what really goes on behind close doors and how do the backbones of medicine deal with everyday life, stress, burnout and hellish working conditions?

The medieval orders of Knights Templar and Knights Hospitalier had done wonders for modernizing the Croatian region of Slavonia and introducing the highest standards of civilization known in the medieval era amongst its world of merchants, craftsmen, farmers and cattle herders. However, how much of their influence can be felt there to this day? And how much was lost in the sands of time?

The village of Končanica near Daruvar, Croatia, is populated primarily by ethnic Czechs who had moved into the area during the 18th century. Despite the fact that many of the them had spent centuries away from their motherland, they still try to keep their language and traditions alive. And one of those traditions is the traditional Czech carnival practiced yearly by the locals.

Ombre is a short film that interweaves myth, landscape and symbolism to explore the power of legends in shaping collective memory and our deepest fears. Through the figure of a woman moving between ruins and wild nature, the film constructs a visual journey through death, transformation and identity.

Max and Jura are teenage friends growing up on the streets of Zagreb. In an effort to become independent from the family home, they also seek financial independence by reselling designer clothes and shoes. They come to an arranged meeting with two older guys, Tony and Black, to buy tennis shoes from them. But the differences between the friends are increasingly coming to the fore - one is cautious, the other is impulsive. The situation gets complicated when Jura does not bring his share of the money. Money, trust and the boundaries of friendship are at stake.

Five roommates angerly discuss the chore of taking out the trash.

The film was made in 2005 and consists of two parts, each lasting 52 minutes. Each part contains 14 stories (average length about 3.5 minutes) from the history of Croatian popular music that once attracted the greatest public attention and which, due to their content and main protagonists, cannot be called anything other than shocking.

A theatre has two lives. One is formed by empty auditoriums and numerous preparations. The other starts with ticket sales and reaches its climax during various performances and the final bow of the performers.

A short hybrid experimental documentary essay film that explores the accumulation of dust in the home, treating it poetically as a constant reminder of one's own beginning and end.

Two Croatian graffiti writers fight their desperate situation with spray cans. They are stuck in the European Union and don't know what to do next. A short story about friendship, family and hope where it was thought to be lost.

Film by Tomislav Šoban

It is the summer of 2018. They know she is leaving. In the end, only memories will remain to keep them company.

This experimental film actually represents the same idea we encounter in Kafka’s world of melancholic metaphors and it shows the society reduced to absurdity. Witness what happens before the circus leaves the town.

Omnibus from the first documentary film workshop DORF '08, created during the 4 days of the Festival, when eight participants recorded three stories under the mentorship of Silvio Mirošničenko. Stories about Koprivnica punk rockers Overflow, Vinkovac academic painter Marko Šošić and Vinkovac's first all-girls punk group Punčka, produced by Vinkovac Television, are proof that you can make a great film in a short time and have a lot of fun doing it.

A reflection on the conceptual, historical, and social concerns surrounding clothing production through images of textiles mostly gathered from Zagreb’s legendary flea market Hrelić.

Promise and Ian are now 11 years old. Steve soo will announce to the group that three years after stopping, some of theme will be chosen for the European tour for their "Cirque du Soleil" style show, performing in many countries. Promise and Ian start to train even harder. Will they be selected?

At one place, where many billboards took turns throughout the year, all of a sudden we witness fast forwarded change of pictures. It is as if the billboard became a movie screen on which may stories have been told. When 'the screening' stops and the movie screen becomes empty, people walk by it. These people, with their life stories could perhaps be more interesting than those on the billboard.

A man and a woman, as the two protagonists of the story, meet in a cold and colorless world and come together through sporadic encounters that very quickly turn into a lovely dance of color.

While driving down a forest road, a man and a woman in a car confront a beast that triggers basic instincts in both of them. In one an immense animalistic, predatory instinct, and in the other a boundless survival instinct. All of this takes place under the watchful eye of an unusual, seemingly harmless observer.

A young sailor steps onto a ship for the first time. He and his roommate are the only newcomers in the established ship crew. Their daily routine is interrupted when his roommate falls into the sea. With no one else coming to help, the young sailor manages to rescue his roommate on his own. In the night, the roommate begins to suffocate grotesquely, and, despite all the young sailor's efforts, he dies.

A fish is in a therapy session with a psychiatrist, complaining about its problems, but the psychiatrist is not taking it seriously and is making fun of it instead.

Pan pan is a word that indicates a type of emergency alert used on a ship. Pan Panis what you hear when you fall asleep on the beach, lying on an inflatable mattress. Pan Panis the first single from the band Rana and the new summer hit of 2024.