Wednesday at ZFF Marked by Premieres and Special Guests

The third day of the festival on Wednesday, 11 November, kicked off with the Croatian premiere of Queen at Sea by American director Lance Hammer, which was awarded the Jury Prize at Berlin. The evening screening at 18:00 at Kaptol Boutique Cinema was attended by actress Anna Calder-Marshall, who joined film critic Nino Kovačić to discuss her impressive career and her role as Leslie, a woman living with dementia, for which she won the Silver Bear at the Berlinale. If you missed the live Q&A, you can read the interview with Anna on the official ZFF website.

At 20:30, in front of a packed audience at Kaptol Boutique Cinema, the Croatian premiere of the feature debut Until the Day Ends by Serbian director Jelena Maksimović took place. This atmospheric story about overcoming societal divides, which had its world premiere in Venice, drew numerous prominent figures from the film and cultural scene; however, the biggest stars of the screening were the members of the film crew, led by producer Jelena Angelovska, lead actors Lena Trifunović and Andrija Krivokapić, and editor Jan Klemsche. Following the premiere, the guests joined ZFF Programme Coordinator Barbara Gregov to discuss the making of the film, touching also upon the current political climate in neighbouring Serbia.

Wednesday also saw the Zagreb premiere of Small Things, an insightful family drama marking acclaimed Croatian director Zvonimir Jurić’s return to the domestic film scene after twelve years. Screened at 18:30 at Kaptol Boutique Cinema with both Ukrainian and English subtitles as part of the intercultural programme Welcome to ZFF, the premiere was attended by director and screenwriter Zvonimir Jurić, co-screenwriter Jurica Pavičić, actresses Marija Škaričić and Ivana Roščić, producers Ankica Jurić Tilić and Dragan Jurić, and cinematographer Marko Brdar, with the post-screening Q&A moderated by David Uranjek.

Another guest at this year’s edition of the festival was director Muriel d’Ansembourg, whose film Truly Naked was presented to the Zagreb audience on Wednesday at 21:00 at Kaptol Boutique Cinema as part of the Network of Festivals in the Adriatic Region programme. Following the screening, d’Ansembourg joined Nino Kovačić for a Q&A session to share further details about her feature debut, which premiered in Berlin and centres on an unconventional family business. This year’s ZFF also welcomed young actor Mitia Capellier-Audat from the film La Gradiva by French director Marine Atlan. The Cannes Critics’ Week winner is competing at the 24th ZFF for both the Golden Pram and the PLUS Young Jury Award, and screened simultaneously with Truly Naked at 21:00 at Kaptol Boutique Cinema. Following the evening’s Croatian premiere, Capellier-Audat spoke with David Uranjek about his experience working with Marine Atlan.

Among the highlights of the third day of the festival was certainly the sold-out screening of Wicker (18:30, Kinoteka Cinema) by Alex Huston Fischer and Eleanor Wilson, led by the brilliant Olivia Colman (Tyrannosaur, ZFF 2011) and Alexander Skarsgård (Pillion, ZFF 2025). Meanwhile, Wednesday’s Industry programme was highlighted by a presentation from Croatian producer, director, and sustainability consultant Morana Ikić Komljenović titled Sustainable Strategies: Green Approach to EU Funds.