17/10/2025 - The 23rd edition includes an array of competitive sections, sidebars and industry events to complement the main competition, where first and second features vie for the Golden Prams

The complete programme of the 23rd Zagreb Film Festival (ZFF), which will take place across four locations in the Croatian capital from 10-16 November, was announced at a press conference that took place on 15 October at Urania – The Space of Creation in Zagreb. The competition programmes, along with the juries who will judge them, sidebars and industry programme, were presented by festival director Boris T Matić, programme director Selma Mehadžić and executive director Lana Matić. On this occasion, Matić said: “We have another festival edition with carefully selected films, a rich accompanying programme and a number of guests who will celebrate the power of the film medium to point to new, different or unknown stories, encouraging mutual understanding and empathy.”

This year, the main feature-film competition boasts nine titles, all of which are eligible for the Golden Pram Award. Simón Mesa Soto’s sophomore feature, A Poet [+see also:
film review
interview: Simón Mesa Soto
film profile], hails from Cannes’ Un Certain Regard, just like Akinola Davies Jr’s My Father’s Shadow [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Akinola Davies Jr
film profile] and Harry Lighton’s Pillion [+see also:
film review
film profile], while Georgi M Unkovski’s DJ Ahmet [+see also:
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interview: Georgi M Unkovski
film profile] comes off a Special Jury Prize and Audience Award win in the World Cinema Dramatic Competition at Sundance. Hana Jušić’s God Will Not Help [+see also:
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interview: Hana Jušić
film profile] premiered in the main competition of Locarno, while How Come It’s All Green Out Here? [+see also:
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interview: Nikola Ležaić
film profile] by Nikola Ležajić comes from Karlovy Vary’s Proxima competition. Both films are set in inland Dalmatia, and deal with questions of identity and family relations. The section is rounded off by Sorry, Baby by Eva Victor, Solomamma [+see also:
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interview: Janicke Askevold
film profile] by Janicke Askevold and Wind, Talk to Me [+see also:
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interview: Stefan Đorđević
film profile] by Stefan Đorđević. The movies will be judged by a jury composed of filmmaker Una Gunjak, producer-curator-lecturer Nicola Marzano and producer Meinolf Zurhorst.

As at previous iterations, this year, ZFF showcases two short-film competitions. The international competition features 12 titles, while the national one, called Checkers, comprises eight films. The same jury, consisting of Croatian filmmakers Sara Alavanić and Ivan Ramljak, along with Norwegian festival programmer and director Bård Ydén, will decide on the award winners in both sections.

Together Again is a festival programme where filmmakers whose earlier works were also shown at ZFF compete for the Golden Bicycle Award. This year’s selection includes, among others, heavy-hitting festival titles, such as Joachim Trier’s Cannes competition entry Sentimental Value [+see also:
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interview: Joachim Trier
film profile], Kaouther Ben Hania’s Venice Grand Jury Prize winner The Voice of Hind Rajab [+see also:
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interview: Kaouther Ben Hania
film profile] and Dreams [+see also:
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interview: Dag Johan Haugerud
film profile] by Dag Johan Haugerud, alongside titles by regional auteurs, like Ivana Mladenović’s Sorella di Clausura [+see also:
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interview: Ivana Mladenović
film profile] and Olmo Omerzu’s Ungrateful Beings [+see also:
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interview: Olmo Omerzu
film profile]. The selection will be weighed up by a jury consisting of Croatian film professionals: producer Tina Tišljar, writer-director Dora Šustić and filmmaker Bruno Anković.

As for the 14th edition of the festival’s industry programme, one more master class will be given by Ivana Mladenović. Creative Europe MEDIA Desk Croatia will host a presentation entitled “What’s Cooking in the New Content Cluster Calls in 2026?”, while the round-table “Small Markets, Big Stories” will deal with the film industries in smaller EU countries. This year’s edition of the industry platform will also host a number of workshops, like My First Screenplay, where six aspiring screenwriters’ first feature-length scripts will be polished by mentors Antonio Nuić and Jelena Paljan, with Pavel Marek as guest lecturer, and the Industry Youth! Pitching Forum, where students from regional academies will present their short-form projects. The Trailer Editing Workshop and Audition as Networking also return for this year’s edition of ZFF. Some other workshops have very particular audiences in mind, such as My First Digital Picture Book, aimed at children; the 54+ Workshop for mature aspiring film critics; and the Cinephiles programme, intended to cultivate regional audiences under 30 years of age for arthouse cinemas and regional festivals.

You can browse the complete programme and schedule here.