ZFF on Tour: Four Film Titles in Cinemas Across Croatia from 12 to 15 November

This year’s program features award-winning titles Dua and La Gradiva, the family drama Ungrateful Beings, and the Latvian children’s comedy Boom!

A touch of Zagreb Film Festival’s signature atmosphere will once again reach audiences beyond the capital this year as part of the ZFF Travels program. From 12 to 15 November, cinema-goers across Croatia in Croatian Independent Cinemas Network venues will be able to enjoy two feature titles from the main competition section alongside Zagreb audiences: Dua by Kosovar director Blerta Basholli and La Gradiva by French director Marina Atlan, as well as Olmo Omerzu’s Ungrateful Beings and the playful Latvian children’s comedy Boom! (9+).

Dua by director Blerta Basholli, author of the first Kosovar film (Hive, ZFF 2021) to be shortlisted for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film, follows thirteen-year-old Dua (a fantastic performance by Pinea Matoshi) from Pristina, who enters puberty just as it becomes clear that war is imminent in Kosovo. Set in the late 1990s and inspired by the director’s personal experience, this tense story explores “the intertwining of intimate and the political, and how vast social and political forces imperceptibly permeate the body and mind of a young girl” (Blerta Basholli for Critis’ Week). The film premiered at the 65th Critics’ Week in Cannes, where it won the SACD Award for screenwriting and authorship (Blerta Basholli, Nicole Borgeat).

The protagonists of La Gradiva by French director Marine Altan also find themselves at the threshold of childhood and adulthood. This winner of Critics’ Week in Cannes explores the rich inner world of teenagers who, during a school trip to Naples, experience a full spectrum of emotions, from anxiety to excitement, on the eve of graduating high school. Variety describes the film as a “brutally tender study of teenage promise and fragility that marks the arrival of a major new filmmaker”. The title of this atmospheric and deeply affecting film is taken from a novella by Wilhelm Jensen, which served as the starting point for Sigmund Freud’s 1907 essay on psychoanalysis. Dua and La Gradiva are screening at the 24th ZFF as part of the main competition program.

Following summer preview screenings in Zagreb, Pula, and Split, Olmo Omerzu’s Ungrateful Beings, co-produced by the Croatian production company Kinorama, is entering regular theatrical distribution as part of the ZFF Travels program. The film follows David, a British man who, hoping to reunite with his recently fractured family, takes his two children on a summer holiday to the Adriatic, unaware that their vacation will soon turn into a nightmare. This intriguing family drama offers an insightful look into the complex relationships between teenagers and their parents. The film had its world premiere at the San Sebastián International Film Festival, and last autumn it screened at ZFF in the Together Again program.

The final title in this year’s film package, Boom! (9+), is a witty story about the ups and downs of a friendship between two boys. Directed by Marta Selecka and Andra Doršs, the film follows Hugo and Tom, best friends since first grade, whose relationship shifts after Hugo develops superpowers and becomes a school star following an awkward skateboard fall. However, his newfound popularity brings unexpected challenges, putting their friendship to the test. In their debut feature, which premiered at the Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival, the Latvian directors use an imaginative comedy to address peer relationships, the temptations of popularity, and the challenges of growing up.

Alongside the latter titles that will tour cinemas across Croatia this autumn, film enthusiasts can also look forward to the online edition of the Festivals in the Spotlight program. From 10 to 15 November, audiences from across the country will be able to watch a selection of short films chosen for them by programmers from six major international festivals: Tampere Film Festival, Riga International Film Festival, Festival of Auteur Film, Sarajevo Film Festival, Ljubljana International Film Festival, and Sofia International Film Festival, from the comfort of their own homes on the ZFF website.

The 24th edition of the Zagreb Film Festival takes place from 9 to 15 November with the support of the City Office for Culture and Civil Society, the Croatian Audiovisual Centre, Creative Europe – MEDIA Sub-programme, Kultura Nova Foundation, and the Zagreb Tourist Board.