What’s in store for Thursday at ZFF?

Thursday at ZFF features the last regional title of this year’s main competition program: the Pula winner in the minority productions category, How Come It’s All Green Out Here? by Serbian director Nikola Ležaić. This atmospheric meditation on memory, space, and identity is the long-awaited project from the filmmaker celebrated for his 2010 cult classic Tilva Rosh. The film screens at 1:00 p.m. and 9:00 p.m. at CineStar Branimir, where a Q&A with the visiting film team, led by Ležaić, will follow the evening screening. The discussion will be moderated by the festival’s executive producer, Barbara Gregov. As part of the intercultural program Welcome to ZFF, the 9:00 p.m. screening will be in Serbian with Arabic and English subtitles.

On the CineStar Branimir schedule at 10:30 a.m. and 6:30 p.m. is Solomamma by Norwegian director Janicke Askevold, which won the prestigious Ecumenical Jury Award at the Locarno Film Festival. The film offers a fresh and convincing look at single parenthood, following journalist Edith (Lisa Loven Kongsli; Force Majeure, ZFF 2014), who accidentally discovers the identity of her sperm donor, Neils (Herbert Nordrum; The Worst Person in the World, ZFF 2021). After the 6:30 p.m. screening, ZFF audiences will have the opportunity to meet Lisa Loven Kongsli during a conversation with the festival’s program director, Selma Mehadžić. Solomamma is one of nine films competing for the Golden Pram this year.

The emotional story Wild Foxes by Belgian director Valéry Carnoy, about seventeen-year-old Camille whose life changes completely after narrowly escaping death, screens at CineStar Branimir at 6:00 p.m. The film won the SACD and Europa Cinemas Label awards for Best French and European Film in the Directors’ Fortnight program at Cannes, and at the 23rd ZFF it is part of the PLUS program, which focuses on stories that approach the theme of growing up in original and bold ways.

Following Wild Foxes, at 8:30 p.m. CineStar Branimir will screen the warm dystopian story The Blue Trail from Brazil, about Teresa (77), who, fleeing a Brazilian government policy aimed at “solving” the problem of the elderly, embarks on an adventurous journey through the Amazon to fulfill her final wish. Directed by Gabriel Mascaro, who first introduced his work to ZFF audiences in 2015 with Neon Bull and later with Divine Love in 2019, the film won the Grand Jury Prize in Berlin and is part of this year’s Together Again program.

Kinoteka’s program begins at 11:00 a.m. with Pixie (7+) by Krzysztof Komander, a charming adventure from the KinoKino program about a girl, Hania, determined to prove that fairies exist. The lineup continues with the feature debut of actor and director Harris Dickinson (Triangle of Sadness, ZFF 2022). Urchin (The Great 5 program) follows the recovery journey of young homeless addict Mike (Frank Dillane). The film’s maturity as a debut is underscored by its FIPRESCI award and Best Acting recognition at Cannes, where it screened in the Un Certain Regard program.

At 9:30 p.m. in Kinoteka, the popular International Short Film program screens for the third day in a row, continuing its tradition of record-breaking attendance. Thursday’s domestic Checkers program features two titles: Ether by Vida Skerk and It’s Fine, I’m Fine, Everything’s Fine by Rino Barbir, already familiar to ZFF audiences (Druker, ZFF 2019; Zof, ZFF 2022). In the international competition, Zagreb audiences will see films by Stefan Ivančić (Upon Sunrise), Tiago Rosa-Rosso (A Good Day), and Viv Li (A Soil A Culture A River A People).

Short film fans at KIC can look forward to a selection of films from the Locarno Film Festival today at 7:30 p.m., screened as part of the Festivals in the Spotlight program at the 23rd ZFF.

On Thursday, the Museum of Contemporary Art will host two directors from this year’s Network of Festivals in the Adriatic Region program. At 6:00 p.m., following the screening of Renovation, a perceptive dive into the world of millennials caught between the illusion of freedom and societal expectations, film critic Nino Kovačić will introduce the audience to director Gabrielė Urbonaitė. After the so-called “Lithuanian The Worst Person in the World,” at 8:30 p.m. comes the tense story Perla by Slovak-Austrian filmmaker Alexandra Makarová, who will reveal more details about her unconventional heroine Perla during a Q&A with Kovačić.

In collaboration with Restart and as part of the Industry program, a Masterclass: Autofiction with award-winning director Ivana Mladenović, a ZFF laureate (Ivana the Terrible, Golden Pram 2019), will be held at KIC on Thursday from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m. Mladenović, whose film Sorella di Clausura is screening in this year’s Together Again program, will discuss the development of her authorial style, working on the boundary between reality and fiction, and giving space to marginalized voices. The masterclass will be moderated by Jelena Pašić and held in Croatian. Admission is free.

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.