Arka by director Natko Stipaničev recently won special mention at the Anibar International Animation Festival in Kosovo and screened earlier this year at the prestigious Annecy festival. The film had its Croatian premiere at the Mediterranean Film Festival Split, where it won the award for Best Short Film in the national competition Ješke, while Natko Stipaničev received the award for Best Screenplay.

Arka will screen in competition of the Bristol Encounters Film Festival, along with 208 titles from across the world, including Dubravka Turić’s short fiction film Tina. Tina premiered at last year’s Go Short - International Short Film Festival Nijmegen and has since toured numerous international and national festivals, such as FilmFest Dresden, Sarajevo Film Festival, CinEast Luxembourg, Zagreb Film Festival and others. In addition, the film is set to screen at this year’s Croatian Film Days (held 16th – 19th September at Tuškanac cinema in Zagreb). 

The Encounters Film Festival, normally held in Bristol in South West England, is dedicated to short fiction and animated films and VR works by both young prospective directors and renowned artists from all over the world. The winning titles directly qualify for an Academy Award nomination in the categories of Best Animated Short and Best Short Live Action Film, as well as BAFTA (British Academy Film Awards) and the European Film Award nominations.

This year’s 26th edition of Encounters, held 18th Sept–10th Oct, will feature over 250 short films and VR works. The audience will be able to watch the titles via a digital platform available at the festival’s official website. 

In addition, Croatian experimental short Microcassette – The Smallest Cassette I've Ever Seen, directed by duo Igor Bezinović and Ivana Pipal, is one of 35 titles from 30 countries to screen in competition of the Drama International Short Film Festival held in Greece, with celebrated Polish director Pawel Pawlikowski as one of the jury members for this competition programme.  

Microcassette – The Smallest Cassette I've Ever Seen premiered at this year’s Sarajevo Film festival and first screened in Croatia at the Motovun Film Festival. The film is also scheduled to appear at Croatian Film Days on 19th September.  

The Drama International Short Film Festival is the most important festival of its kind in Greece gathering filmmakers from all cross the globe. Just like Encounters, the Drama festival is a qualifying event for the European Film Award nominations.  

The Drama International Short Film Festival is held 20th – 26th September, at festival locations and online, while more information is available at Drama ISFF official website. 

Cover photographs: scenes from Arka, Tina, Microcassette – The Smallest Cassette I've Ever Seen; Encounters Film Festival and Drama International Short Film Festival visuals