The middle of the festival week in Tuškanac Cinema brings the Croatian premiere of the third of four Croatian titles in the main competition program of the 20th ZFF. The feature debut by Golden Lion-winning director Dubravka Turić (Belladona) – Traces starring Marija Škaričić screens in Tuškanac Cinema shortly after the world premiere at the Warsaw Film Festival. Traces is a story about a young anthropologist Ana whose scientific research of symbols and human traces etched in stone starts to intertwine with her personal story and maturing process. The film screens at Tuškanac Cinema at 1 PM and 9 PM, with the film crew present at the evening screening.

At 10.30 AM and 6.30 PM, Tuškanac Cinema is screening the French film The Worst Ones, by Lisa Akoka and Romane Gueret. This moving docu-fiction which questions the ethics of filmmaking won an award at Un Certain Regard at Cannes.

Like every festival day from 10 PM at Kinoteka Cinema, we have films from the short film competition. On Wednesday there are two films from the national program Checkers – Boca de Ferro by Matej Matijević and the latest short by Josip Lukić, a three-time Checkers veteran who is returning this year with his latest, It’s Not Cold for Mosquitoes.  The international short film competition features the Slovenian title That’s How the Summer Ended by Matjaž Ivanišin and the Turkish The Moist by Turan Haste.

Kinoteka Cinema is continuing with screenings from side programs – The Great 5, Together Again and KinoKino. The afternoon is reserved for the youngest audience and on Wednesday we have the Belgian-Dutch children’s film Binti (for 8+ audience) which premiered at the prestigious Sundance festival. On Wednesday, the Great 5 brings a visually stunning film The Eight Mountains by Felix van Groeningen and Charlotte Vandermeersch, which won the Jury’s Award at Cannes. This film shot in the Italian Alps and based on the novel by Paolo Cognetti is a story about a strong friendship of two men who are separated by circumstance. The award-winning Iranian director Ali Asgari is well known to the ZFF audience thanks to his acclaimed film Disappearance (ZFF 2017) and in this year’s Together Again program he will be presenting his new film Until Tomorrow, a tense drama taking place during one day and which premiered at Berlinale.

The Great 5 program also screens at the Museum of Contemporary Art, where it continues at 6 PM with Aftersun – a beautiful drama which develops with the gradual poignancy of a Polaroid (IndieWire) produced by Oscar winner Barry Jenkins and starring BAFTA winner Paul Mescal (Normal People). The program at the Museum of Contemporary Art continues with films from the competition program Network of Festivals in the Adriatic Region, and Wednesday brings Wet Sand, a powerful mystery-imbued love story and a sharp critique of social doctrines and intolerance, which was awarded Best Actor in Locarno (Gia Agumava). Aside from the Museum of Contemporary Art, the program Network of Festivals in the Adriatic Region is also available online at ondemand.kinomeetingpoint.ba for the duration of ZFF.

The special, anniversary program ZFF’s Best Documentaries at Dokukino KIC features  Karpotrotter by Matjaž Ivanišin, a road film about the passage of time and memory and a moving meditation on local culture and the inhabitants of rural Vojvodina, which won the Golden Pram for Best Documentary at ZFF 2014 when that genre was still part of the festival competition program.

This year’s jury member, actor from Osijek with a Danish address Zlatko Burić Kićo (Pusher, Dirty Pretty Things, Quit Staring At My Plate) will hold a masterclass. In his talk with actress Hrvojka Begović, he will share his work process and method, as well as talk about his personal and professional inspirations and life choices. Burić’s newest film, the Palme d’Or winner Triangle of Sadness by Ruben Östlund, is featured out of competition in ZFF’s main program.