International competition grand finale on the eve of the award ceremony: Serbian box office hit That’s It for Today, and the chronicle of the coexistence of Arabs and Jews in Haifa in Happy Holidays, with guest appearances by film crews

The day before Saturday’s winners’ announcement and award ceremony, Friday at CineStar brings the last two titles from the Main Competition. That’s It for Today (CineStar, 10:30, 18:30) will cheer up even the most hardened grumps. Breezy and full of infectious optimism, the sophomore title by Serbian director Marko Đorđević (My Morning Laughter, 2019) was an unexpected success in domestic cinemas! Hailed in Serbian press as ‘the fairy tale about happy people’, it enchanted viewers with its depiction of a different world in which everyone truly listens to each other.

In addition to director Marko Đorđević, the Croatian premiere will be attended by actors Filip Đurić, Ivana Vuković, Miona Pejković, Goran Bogdan, producer Miloš Pušić, production designer Miljena Vučković and director of photography Stefan Milosavljević.

Happy Holidays (CineStar, 13:00, 21:00), a lively and layered chronicle of the coexistence of Arabs and Jews in Haifa, by Palestinian director Scandar Copti, received the award for Best Screenplay in the Orizzonti section at the 81st Venice International Film Festival. Its directorial approach recalls the films of Asghar Farhadi and Robert Altman as it questions how the power and will of the state spill over into human relations, reshaping personal ties in a conservative society where everyone suffers, especially women. The film will be presented by a guest of the 22nd ZFF, producer Jiries Copti.

At 18:00, the CineStar PLUS program presents Locarno’s Golden Leopard-winning Toxic by Lithuanian filmmaker Saulė Bliuvaitė, shedding light on the merciless world of modelling and catwalks from the perspective of two teenage girls, while the crime thriller Santosh from the Together Again program, a brilliant feature debut by Sandhya Suri (I for India, ZFF 2005), screened in Cannes, Toronto and Karlovy Vary, is on at 20:30.

At 11:00, Kinoteka screens the last title from the KinoKino program. The award-winning Norwegian drama Lars is LOL by Eirik Sæter Stordahl tells the story of the girl Amanda, who becomes the “big sister” to a new student, Lars, a boy with Down syndrome. The film deals with the topics of peer pressure, tolerance, and the value of accepting mutual differences in an accessible and entertaining way.

At 18:00, Kinoteka presents German director Matthias Glasner’s feature Dying, from The Great 5 program. This darkly humorous drama about the disintegration of a nuclear family in a firework display of brutally honest confessions, blood, and pathos was awarded the Silver Bear for Best Screenplay at the Berlinale.

Also at Kinoteka, the Checkers and international shorts competition take the stage for the last time at 21:30. We’ll be watching the Croatian shorts – Ark by Mladen Stanić and Jozo Schmuch’s Dog of a Famous Person, as well as international ones – the Greek Tit for Tat by Kyriakos Kollias and the Italian Phantom by Gabriela Manzoni. Screening out of competition is the Cannes short film laureate – Nebojša Slijepčević’s The Man Who Could Not Remain Silent.

Festivals in the spotlight on Friday bring Short Cuts, a selection of shorts from the Toronto International Film Festival at Dokukino KIC at 19:00, while in the Industry section, the workshop called Audition as Networking will be held Friday morning at Scenoteka.

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