Tuesday at ZFF

After the 23^rd edition of the Zagreb Film Festival kicked off on Monday, November 10, with a packed screening of DJ Ahmet at CineStar Branimir, the main feature competition program continues at 10:30 a.m. and 6:30 p.m. with the Croatian premiere of the “strikingly atmospheric” (Variety) historical drama God Will Not Help, directed and written by Hana Jušić. Jušić returns to ZFF nine years after her feature debut Quit Staring at My Plate (2016) received a Special Mention. The film premiered in Locarno, where actresses Manuela Martelli and Ana Marija Veselčić won the award for Best Performance, and it also received a Special Prize for the Promotion of Gender Equality in Sarajevo. Following the evening screening (6:30 p.m.), a Q&A session will take place, where the director and the visiting film crew will share behind-the-scenes details with the audience. The conversation will be moderated by film critic Nino Kovačić.

At 1:00 p.m. and 9:00 p.m. at Cinestar Branimir, screenings will follow of Pillion, a hilarious romantic comedy by British director Harry Lighton. The film centers on the quiet and unassuming Colin (Harry Melling), who, in his search for a soulmate, meets the enigmatic motorcyclist Ray (Alexander Skarsgård). Pillion had its world premiere in the Un Certain Regard program in Cannes.

For visitor who didn’t manage to get a ticket for the opening at CineStar Branimir, another screening of DJ Ahmet by Macedonian filmmaker Georgi M. Unkovski, will take place at 6:00 p.m. This Sundance award-winning coming-of-age story follows musically gifted fifteen-year-old Ahmet, who tries to impress Aya, a girl “promised” to another, at a local dance festival. The film’s score is composed by renowned Croatian duo Alen and Nenad Sinkauz, and the film is also competing for the PLUS Young Jury Award.

Awarded Best Director in Sarajevo, the hilarious parody of romantic comedies Sorella di Clausura by ZFF laureate Ivana Mladenović (Ivana the Terrible, Golden Pram 2019) screens at 8:30 p.m. at CineStar Branimir. As part of the Industry program, Mladenović will also hold a masterclass on Thursday at Dokukino KIC, where she will discuss her distinctive directorial style and her work with non-professional actors.

The Great 5 program kicks off at 6:00 p.m. at cinema Kinoteka with a new adaptation of Albert Camus’s literary classic The Stranger, directed by François Ozon. Critics argue that the acclaimed French filmmaker boldly brings to the screen all the existential dread and bureaucratic absurdity of the story about the apathetic Meursault (Benjamin Voisin), who faces trial for murder.

After The Stranger, cinema Kinoteka will also host the first block of films from this year’s Short Film Competition, starting at 9:30 p.m. The national program Checkers features We Were Fine, Weren’t We? by Nina Damjanović and Placement Exam by Kruno Trninić, while international filmmakers presenting their works to the Zagreb audience on Tuesday include Alina Panasenko (Prelude), Dian Weys (Vultures), and Gerardo del Razo (Family Sunday).

For those who can’t get enough of short films, the Festivals in the Spotlight section will feature a selection of works from the Vienna Shorts, screening at 7:30 p.m. at KIC. Admission is free.

Winner of the Grand Prix in Cannes, Sentimental Value by Norwegian director Joachim Trier will have its Croatian premiere at 6:00 p.m. at the Museum of Contemporary Art cinema. This intimate family drama follows filmmaker Gustav Borg (Stellan Skarsgård), whose daughter Nora (Renate Reinsve; The Worst Person in the World, ZFF 2021) turns down a role in his new film. The Norwegian Oscar entry screens at the 23^rd ZFF as part of the Together Again program.

After Sentimental Value, the Museum of Contemporary Art cinema will screen Adam’s Sake by Belgian director Laura Wandal. This tense drama, often compared to the poetics of the Dardenne brothers, is set in a hospital where head nurse Lucy (Léa Drucker) finds herself mediating between a desperate mother and an unyielding social worker.

On Tuesday, the Industry program features a roundtable discussion titled Small Markets, Big Stories (12-1:30 p.m., Frankopanska 22), focusing on the film industry in small EU countries. Speakers include Chris Marcich (Croatian Audiovisual Centre – HAVC), Martina Petrović (Creative Europe Desk – MEDIA Office), Jakob Isak Nielsen (Aarhus University, Denmark), and Lars Bjørn Hansen (SF Studios Production, Denmark). The event is organized by the Institute for Development and International Relations (IRMO) in collaboration with the Academy of Dramatic Art and the Zagreb Film Festival. Admission is free with prior registration.

Masterclass: Directing Children and Non-Professional Actors by renowned Sarajevo-based director, screenwriter, and editor Una Gunjak will take place at Dokukino KIC from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m. During the session, Gunjak will discuss her notable projects, with a special focus on working with child actors and non-professionals. Following the talk, moderated by Ana Marija Marinov, the audience will have the opportunity to watch her short, award-winning short film The Chicken (2014). The event is open to the public, and the masterclass will be conducted in Croatian.

The Zagreb Film Festival is held 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.