Jim Jarmusch’s Golden Lion–winning film to close the 23rd Zagreb Film Festival

Father Mother Sister Brother ©Vague Notion, Photo by Yorick Le Saux

Other highlights from this year’s rich programme include Ungrateful Beings by Czech-Slovenian director Olmo Omerzu, shot on the stunning Pelješac peninsula, and a fresh adaptation of Albert Camus’s existential classic The Stranger by French director François Ozon.

The recently announced program of the 23rd Zagreb Film Festival, which this year features 120 films across ten sections, will be rounded off by the latest work from legendary American director Jim Jarmusch — Father Mother Sister Brother, winner of the Golden Lion for Best Film in Venice. On Saturday, November 15, following the official awards ceremony, Zagreb audiences will have the opportunity to enjoy a film whose humorous and intimate exploration of complex family relationships won over the jury at the prestigious Venice Film Festival.

Father Mother Sister Brother ©Vague Notion, Photo by Frederick Elmes

Steeped in melancholy and Jarmusch’s signature irony, Father Mother Sister Brother follows characters, played by star cast (Adam Driver, Charlotte Rampling, Cate Blanchett, Vicky Krieps), moving through family homes and apartments, drinking coffee, engaging in small talk, and quietly carrying unresolved tensions — all while being forced to confront their emotionally distant parents. 

Part of the Together Again programme, which showcases works by directors already familiar to the ZFF audience, is the intriguing film Ungrateful Beings by Czech-Slovenian director and screenwriter Olmo Omerzu (Family Film, ZFF 2015; Winter Flies, ZFF 2018), filmed on the stunning Pelješac peninsula. This provocative look at adolescence and the pitfalls of modern parenting has had its premiere in late September at the San Sebastián International Film Festival. Co-produced with Croatia (Kinorama), the film explores how family conflicts and tensions can deeply affect a child’s psyche.

Ungrateful Beings, directed by Olmo Omerzu

As part of The Great 5 program, dedicated to films from Europe’s five major national cinemas, ZFF will also screen a new work by acclaimed French filmmaker and master of sensuality François Ozon (By the Grace of God, Golden Bear 2019). His fresh adaptation of Albert Camus’s existential classic The Stranger relocates the detached Meursault (Benjamin Voisin) to the sweltering Algiers of the 1930s, where he faces trial for murder.

Stranger, directed by François Ozon

This November, Zagreb will also be home to Bouchra, an impressive animated film with anthropomorphic characters that premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival, directed by Orian Barki and Meriam Bennani, about a queer artist from Morocco who is transported back in time by a phone call with her mother. The film will be screened at the 23rd ZFF in the PLUS program, which presents authors who approach the topic of growing up in an original and daring way.

The 23rd Zagreb Film Festival will take place from November 10 to 16, 2025 at CineStar Branimir, Kinoteka, the Museum of Contemporary Art (MSU), and Dokukino KIC.