Igor Šeregi’s debut feature film ZG80 is an action comedy that depicts football supporter’s subculture and society, and issues that were of concern to young people in pre-war Yugoslavia. The film is a kind of prequel to Branko Shmidt’s Metastases as it includes the character Krpa, played by Rene Bitorajac. The film is based on the screenplay by Ivo Balenović and Robert Cukin, who included elements of real events and persons during the founding phase of the Bad Blue Boys fan club. Kinoteka produced the film and cinema distribution in Croatia is set for September 1st.

The Macedonian-Croatian-Finnish film The Liberation of Skopje, directed by Rade and Danilo Šerbedžija, is based on the well-known drama by Dušan Jovanović. The film is set in Skopje in 1941 and tells the story of 11 year-old Zoran who witnesses the horrors of war. Zoran’s father fights with the Partisan army while Zoran’s mother and a German officer develop feelings for eachother. The Croatian co-producers are Lijeni Film and MP Film Productions.

The Serbian-Croatian comedy-melodrama Train Driver’s Diary, directed by Miloš Radović, tells the story of a 60 year-old train driver approaching retirement. He holds the infamous record of 28 deaths on the rails during his career. His 19 year-old adopted son wants to take over his father’s job, and soon becomes obsessed with irrational expectations of his first accident. The Croatian co-producer is Interfilm.

Novine (Newspaper) is a 12 part series directed by Dalibor Matanić and based on the screenplay written by journalist and editor Ivica Đikić. Drugi Plan produced the series for Croatian Radio Television and it is set to begin airing this fall. The show explores the lives and relationships of individuals working at an influential daily paper, and discusses the influence of powerful people and politicians in the media.

Furthermore, the programme Dealing With the Past will screen the premiere of Irena Škorić’s feature documentary film Unwanted Heritage. The film is about monuments dedicated to the National Liberation Movement which were, during the 90’s in Croatia, either destroyed or damaged, or turned into waste. Irena Škorić directed, wrote and produced the film, while the cinematographers are Branko Cahun, Darko Krakar and Robert Krivec, the editor is Silvije Magdić, the composer is Ivo Josipović and the sound engineer is Ivica Drnić. The film is produced by Artizana Film.

The Open Air Programme will screen the minority co-production A Good Wife, by Mirjana Karanović, (Croatian co-producer Nukleus Film), while the selection of short films will feature films from the Zagreb Film Festival – Best of Checkers (Playing the Tiger - Jasna Nanut, Picnic - Jure Pavlović, Indonesia – Daria Blažević, Belladonna – Dubravka Turić, and The Beast – Daina O. Pusić) as well as a selection from the Split Festival of Mediterranean Film (Lula & The Pubic Hairs – Igor Jelinović, Boo-boo Boo hoo hoo – Josip Lukić, Thin Air – Šimun Šitum, and Planemo – Veljko Popović). The children’s programme will screen the minority co-production A Well Spent Afternoon directed by Martin Turk (Croatian co-producer Studio Dim). 

The 22nd Sarajevo Film Festival will be held from August 12th to 20th, and the competition and additional programmes will screen numerous Croatian films; for more information please visit this link. For all other details visit the festival’s official website.