2014 Croatian Summer Film Festival Guide

This summer Croatia will not just be about music festivals (you can check out our 2014 Croatian summer music festival guide here) but a host of exciting film festivals will be going on up and down the country. Check out our summer film festival guide below to see what is going on in Croatia over the summer…

Mediterranean Film Festival Split, 6 – 14 June 2014
+ CINEMA MEDITERRANEAN – Makarska, Omiš, Trogir, Šibenik, Komiža, Bol, Lastovo, Silba, Imotski, Korčula, Blato, Hvar, Stari Grad, Vis, 22 June – 29 August 2014

Mediterranean Film Festival Split has become one of the best and most popular cultural events on the Adriatic and its positive spirit has been recognized by more than 40.000 visitors in the last 6 years. The reason are films from the Mediterranean region and their regional and Croatian premieres in Split since they cannot be seen in regular cinema distribution. But the smell of hundred year old pines and the sound of the sea, the center of the beautiful UNESCO city, sandy beach and smiling faces having a good time…all that is a bonus during the eight days of the festival.

Fantastic Zagreb Film Festival – Zagreb, 27 June – 5 July 2014

Fantastic Zagreb Film Festival brings special cinematic treats to all film buffs and fantasy fans. In nine days of the Festival, fans of fantasy and related genres – science fiction, horror, thriller, mystery, experimental etc. will get to watch a number of intriguing and interesting films from both new and acknowledged authors.

Pula Film Festival – Pula, 12 – 26 July 2014

Long ago, in 1938, even before the establishment of the Cannes Film Festival, a well visited first film revue took place in the Pula Arena and since 1953 Pula has established itself as a place where you can enjoy the film under the starry sky. London newspaper The Guardian in 2005 wrote that Pula is “one of the three most spectacular open-air festivals in Europe”. Its National & Popular programme, opening and award ceremonies are traditionally held in ancient Vespasian’s Amphitheatre (constructed in the mid-1st century B.C), popularly called Arena, that in summer becomes one of the biggest open-air cinemas in the world (along with Locarno and Taormina). European Programme usually hosts a feast of cinematic delicacies from around the world, while the National Programme, thanks to which Pula proudly holds the title of the oldest film festival in the world, expects to present more than a dozen Croatian titles.

Supetar Super Film Festival – Supetar (Brač), 15 – 19 July 2014

This summer will be the 6th edition of the SSFF – festival of European contemporary documentary films. After Scotland, Sweden, Czech Republic and Serbia have all been partner countries with this young festival, it is expected that this year will once again be a great week of film, concerts and workshops on the beautiful island of Brač.

Motovun Film Festival – Motovun, 26 – 30 July 2014

Motovun Film Festival takes place in a picturesque medieval  town situated in a fort 270 m above sea level. A five-day film marathon with evening outdoor screenings and daily screenings in theatres. Festival program consists of around 70 titles from all over the world, from documentaries to feature films, from shorts to long forms, from guerilla made films to co-productions. Motovun is one of the most popular Croatian festivals and summer destinations.

Supertoon – International Animation Festival, 27 July – 1 August 2014

After the first two years being held on the island of Brac, last year’s edition of Supertoon – International Animation Festival has moved to the beautiful coastal town of Sibenik.  Supertoon is definitely going to add some flavour to an already rich summer season in Sibenik. Supertoon is known for showcasing recent short animated films for adults and for kids and especially for its carefully curated music video selection programme – Supertoon Supertunes. Last years festival’s tagline was Festival in Flip – Flops.

Postira Seaside Festival – Postira (Brač), TBA

The Postira Seaside Film Festival is organized by a small group of enthusiasts gathered in the assosiations “LANTERNA MAGICA” and “UNIKAT”, who are trying to further cultural life in their little village to make life better for it´s inhabitants (especially the young). The festival takes place in the old town square of the picturesque village Postira on the island of Brac. Laid back and definitely fun!

Starigrad Paklenica International Music Documentary Film Festival – Starigrad, 2 – 7 August 2014

Since its first edition in the year 2010, the SPFF has had a very clearly defined program, two competition categories, the feature film category and the short music documentary category. Apart from being presented with about 30 attractive titles in all the categories, the audience has always had the chance to enjoy great musical evenings following the film screenings, with the performances from big national and international music names. Previous editions of the SPFF have also been the site of some international, but mostly Croatian film premieres.

Opuzen Film Festival – Opuzen, 18 – 23 August 2014

As OFF’s visitors believed that the festival was are creating a special sort of „zen“ in Opuzen for the past few years, last year the organizers decided to take a simple, but also unusual slogan „’op u Zen“, meaning to jump in Zen. This special type of Zen has an emphasis on different philosophical and artistic view of the European film.

Vukovar Film Festival – Vukovar, 18 – 24 August 2014

Vukovar Film Festival – Danube Region Film Festival  is a one week manifestiation whose rich programme selection includes winners of the world’s largest film festivals. It takes place on several locations in Vukovar. Evening screenings take place on the Terrace of the Agency for Waterways and the beautiful park of Eltz Castle, while standard day – time screening locations are Ruzicka’s house, Cinema Borovo and a summer getaway place Danubian Sand Island “Ada”.

Avvantura Festival – FilmForumZadar – Zadar, 23 – 29 August 2014

Avvantura Festival – FilmForumZadar is the first international film festival being focused on European Co-Productions and is taking place in Zadar during the last week of August. It’s also the first international film festival in Zadar gathering not only the cinema audience during the film projections but also the professionals participating at the creative Film Forum. “This is the most beautiful sunset in the world” – said Alfred Hitchcock, delighted during the staying in Zadar. The organizers believe that the new generations have the great opportunity to show that Zadar disposes of more than just perfect geographic position on the Adriatic sea along with the beautiful landscapes perfect for the film sets.

Liburnia Film Festival, Ičići (Opatija), 26 – 30 August 2014

Liburnia Film Festival is the first documentary film festival in Croatia and the only festival screening only the latest in Croatian documentaries. This open air documentary film festival is held every year in August and has built up a reputation for showing quality documentaries in a stunning setting with a relaxed atmosphere.

Kinookus Food Film Festival – Ston, 3 – 7 September 2014

The Kinookus Food Film Festival takes place in Ston (Croatia) every September. The area around Ston (Dubrovnik-Neretva County) is renowned for the cultivation of shellfish, superb wines and olive oil. By bringing the seventh art back into the open public spaces of Ston, the Kinookus organizers wish to give their support to the ongoing efforts of the local community and civic associations to revive and preserve the unique spirit of this magical place.

Trash Film Festival – Varaždin, 11 – 13 September 2014

Trash Film Festival is a festival of low-budget action movies. Trash Film Festival is much more than just a review – it is a large glam-trash event in which all present play role; guests, organizers, performers and contestants. Great care is taken to organize concerts, kitsch parties and red carpet events. On the final evening, the festival award Golden Chainsaw is given to the best movies.

Split Film Festival – International Festival of New Film – Split, 13 – 20 September 2014

Split Film Festival – International Festival of New Film takes place every year in an ancient town on the Adriatic coast. It showcases new, innovative, personal, experimental, radical, subversive works (film, video, new media) of all genres and lenghts, preferably from outside the mainstream, whether it was made on a shoe string budget, or is a studio release.