As many as two Croatian shorts will compete in the official Short Film Competition. One of these is The Real Truth about the Fight directed and written by Andrea Slaviček, who is currently developing her debut feature at the Cannes Film Festival Résidence. The film had its world premiere in a parallel section of the Cannes Film Festival – the International Critics’ Week (Semaine de la Critique), and has since screened at various international festivals. The Real Truth about the Fight is an Antitalent production, with co-producers Fractal 7 from Spain and association Blank from Croatia. The producer is Katarina Prpić.

The second fiction short is Boy, of director and screenwriter Hrvoje Mabić. The film has so far screened in competition at the Warsaw International Film Festival and Motovun Film Festival. Boy was produced by Studio Dim, in co-production with Interfilm. The producers are Marina Andrea Škop and Darija Kulenović Gudan, with the co-producer Ivan Maloča.

In the Feature Film Competition, Croatian production is represented by 4 Film, the co-producer of the coming-of-age post-apocalyptic sci-fi feature, M, directed by Vardan Tozija. So far, M has screened at the Macedonian Cinedays Festival. The film’s main producer is Darko Popov (Fokus Pokus Film, North Macedonia), while the Croatian co-producer is Anita Juka. Appearing in one of the roles in the film is Croatian actress Bojana Gregorić Vejzović.

The Youth Film U18 Competition presents nine titles about young people’s search for identity. One of them is director and screenwriter Una Gunjak’s debut feature Excursion, realised in co-production with Croatian company Nukleus film and producer Siniša Juričić. The film had its world premiere at the Locarno Film Festival this past August, scooping up a special mention in the programme Concorso Cineasti del presente. It is also shortlisted for a European Film Award nomination, as well as being Bosnia’s Oscar nomination contender.

Three Croatian films will screen in the Spectrum programme section, two of which were realised as minority co-productions. One of them is Goran Dević’s latest documentary What’s to Be Done?, which had its world premiere at the Sarajevo Film Festival this summer. It was produced by Hrvoje Osvadić (15th Art Productions).

The Cottbus audience will have a chance to see Vladimir Perišić’s Lost Country in the Spectrum programme as well. The film is Serbia’s Oscar nomination contender and was realised in co-production with Croatian company Kinorama, with co-producer Ankica Jurić Tilić. Lost Country is about to screen at the Mostra de València, after having its premiere in the International Critics’ Week at the 76th Cannes Film Festival. Croatian actors Marija Škaričić and Duško Valentić also appear as part of the film’s cast. 

Vlad Petri’s minority Croatian co-production Between Revolutions is also part of the Spectrum programme. The Croatian co-producer is Oliver Sertić for Restart. Between Revolutions won the FIPRESCI Award for Best Film in the FORUM section at this year’s Berlinale, and it is currently screening at the Ji.hlava International Documentary Film Festival.

The Diary of Paulina P. directed by Neven Hitrec will be featured in the Children’s Film programme. The fiction feature, produced by Jaka Produkcija (producer Jure Bušić), is based on the eponymous children’s novel written by Sanja Polak, part of the third-form elementary school compulsory reading list. While still touring the festivals around the world, this past spring, it was seen on the big screen by more than 86,000 viewers during its regular theatrical distribution in Croatia. The film has received the recommendation of the Ministry of Science and Education to be included in the elementary school curricular cinema-going activities. The Diary of Paulina P. is also available on Netflix.

In addition, the feature film project Night Waves directed by Filip Heraković, with producers Tamara Babun and Matija Drniković from Wolfgang&Dolly, will be presented in the cocoPitch section of the Connecting Cottbus co-production market, taking place at the Eastern European Film Festival in Cottbus. Projects from the cocoPitch section will have the opportunity to win prizes in money, post-production services or further development. Also, one of the awards is sponsored by the Croatian Audiovisual Centre (the HAVC Project Development Award), in the amount of 5.000 euros, for a project’s further development.