Nebojša Slijepčević’s The Man Who Could Not Remain Silent will screen in the short film competition. This is the first Croatian short to take home the Palme d'Or in Cannes, and it’s also the winner of the European Film Award and has been shortlisted for an Oscar nomination. The film was produced by Antitalent, with producers Katarina Prpić and Danijel Pek, in co-production with Bulgaria, France, and Slovenia.

The same competition programme will feature the short Tiha by Eva Vidan, which will have its world premiere in Trieste. The film follows a shy fourteen-year-old teenager, Deni, who experiences a family and friendship crisis as she struggles to find acceptance. The film stars Sara Tudor, Suzana Čizmić, Helena Višić, Antea Tolj, Domina Ančić, Mikula Branjov, Leo Murgić and Domagoj Ostoja. Dubravka Kurobasa did the cinematography, while the film was edited by Eva Vidan and Adrian Vidan, who also wrote the music. The sound design was done by Jan Tomić and Niko Gulam. The film was produced by Columbia University and co-produced by Kino Klub Split, with producers Aida Vidan, Eva Vidan, Sylvie Vidan, and Morgan Smith.

The feature film competition will showcase director and writer Sonja Prosenc’ Family Therapy, which was realised in co-production with Croatian company Wolfgang&Dolly, with co-producers Tamara Babun Zovko and Matija Drniković. The feature had its world premiere in the main competition of the Tribeca Film Festival in New York, after which it screened at various festivals, including the recently held Les Arcs. It also made a sweep of last year’s Slovenian Film Festival, taking home as many as seven awards.

For the first time, the Italian audience will also get to see Danis Tanović’s My Late Summer. The feature screens in Trieste out of competition, but had its world premiere as it inaugurated last year’s Sarajevo Film Festival, going on to screen at a number of festivals around the globe. The film is a Propeler Film (Lana Matić, Boris T. Matić) production, in co-production with companies from Romania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia and Slovenia. 

Goran Stolevski’s Housekeeping for Beginners, a co-production of North Macedonia, Croatia, Poland and Kosovo (with Croatian co-producer Ankica Jurić Tilić of Kinorama), will screen as part of the Queer Visions programme. The film premiered at the Mostra in Venice, where it immediately scooped up the Queer Lion. 

This year’s edition of the Trieste Film Festival opens with the documentary Wishing on a Star of Slovak director Péter Kerekes, and Croatian co-producers Vanja Jambrović and Tibor Keser (Restart). The film had its world premiere in the Orizzonti programme of the 81st Venice International Film Festival.

This year, one of the festival’s programmes is dedicated to films created immediately following World War II, and will include Gustav Gavrin and Kosta Hlavaty’s documentary short Jasenovac from 1945.

The industry section When East Meets West will take place during the Trieste Film Festival, from 19th to 22nd January, bringing together 600 film professionals from across the globe.

The Last Stop Trieste section, showcasing soon to be completed documentary film projects previously presented at partner platforms (Ex-Oriente, BDC Discoveries, Docu Rough Cut Boutique, Baltic Sea Docs, ZagrebDox PRO, When East Meets West), will present Dalija Dozet’s debut feature film, My Dad’s Lessons. The project is being developed by Hulahop, with Dana Budisavljević as the producer.

The This is It section will includes the project The Lost Son by director and screenwriter Darko Štante, produced by Slovenian company Staragara, in co-production with Croatian company Propeler Film (Lana Matić, Boris T. Matić), and other production companies from Greece, Italy and North Macedonia. The section This is It is intended for feature film projects that boast a strong visual and artistic signature, and are created in co-production with Italy. 

This year’s 36th edition of the Trieste Film Festival runs 16th – 24th January, while more details about the festival may be found on its official website.