The official programme showcases films that explore “the ties that bind us together,” say Cinemamed – Brussels Mediterranean Film Festival organizers. The feature film programme will include four Croatian films, namely Jure Pavlović’s debut Mater, as well as three minority co-productions: Mare, directed by Andrea Štaka (Croatian co-producer is Tena Gojić, Dinaridi Film), Father, directed by Srdan Golubović (Croatian co-producers are Lana Matić and Boris T. Matić, Propeler Film) and My Lake, by Gjergj Xhuvani (Croatian co-producer is Zvonimir Munivrana, Corvus film). 

All four titles have already screened at numerous national and international festivals, winning various awards and recognitions. Mater, which had its world premiere at last year’s Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival, won three Golden Arena awards at Pula Film Festival, earning other important awards at festivals in Italy (­Taormina Film Festival), Serbia (FEST, Belgrade), Macedonia (Cinedays), France (Saint-Jean-de-Luz) and elsewhere.   

Director Andrea Štaka’s Swiss-Croatian feature Mare kicked off its festival tour at this year’s Berlinale, going on to win two awards at Sarajevo Film Festival, as well as screening at a host of other international festivals, including CinEast in Luxembourg, where it was awarded the Special Jury Prize. Mare was shot entirely around Konavle, located in the vicinity of Dubrovnik.     

Srdan Golubović’s Father also had its world premiere at the famous Berlinale, taking home two awards. After its Croatian premiere at Pula Film Festival, where the audience gave it the highest possible rating of 5.00, Father was included among the 36 films competing for the ‘European Oscar’ – the European Film Academy Award. For his titular role in the film, Goran Bogdan has also been nominated for the European Film Academy Award for Best Actor.

The fourth title in the programme is Albanian-Italian-Macedonian-Croatian film My Lake, directed by recently deceased director, screenwriter and producer Gjergj Xhuvani. The film, which this year screened at Balkan Film Festival and Tirana Film Festival, is a story about Kristo, a young man living in a village on the edge of the beautiful Lake Prespa, a body of water that includes the border between three Balkan countries: Albania, Macedonia and Greece. In order to support his family, Kristo has become a small-time marijuana smuggler…

The documentary film programme at Cinemamed will also screen Tomislav Žaja’s Neighbors. The film had its world premiere at last year’s ZagrebDox, winning the Audience Award for Best Film and has subsequently screened at 36 international festivals. It recently won its 12th award, at the online edition of the Aesthetica Short Film Festival normally held in York, UK, while some of its other accolades include awards from SEEfest, Croatian Film Days, Liburnia Film Festival and others.

Cinemamed – Brussels Mediterranean Film Festival will present a total of 26 feature and 13 short films. The festival is held entirely online, via the VoD platform, Sooner, from 26th November to 5th December. 

For more information about the festival, visit Cinemamed’s official website.