The 21st edition of the Zagreb Film Festival took place from 6-12 November on the premises of several cinemas around the Croatian capital, while 14 more cities and towns all over the country showcased, and will still showcase, the films from the festival. Opening the awards ceremony on Saturday in the gallery of the Student Centre, festival director Boris T Matić revealed that the attendance figures surpassed those from last year, and he thus declared this year’s edition a resounding success.

Molly Manning Walker’s How to Have Sex [+leggi anche:
recensione
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intervista: Molly Manning Walker
scheda film] was declared the clear winner of the Golden Pram for Best Feature Film in the main competition for first- and second feature-length efforts, and was crowned accordingly at the awards ceremony that took place on Saturday afternoon. The jury, consisting of producer Renée Hansen Mlodyszewski, actress-producer Labina Mitevska and filmmaker Sebastian Meise, singled out the questions the film forced them to ask themselves, and praised it for its “independent cinematic vision, great cast and intimate direction that all reveal, layer by layer, how fragile our co-existence is”, in their explanation.

Golden Prams were also given out in two of the shorts categories. The jury, consisting of filmmakers Matjaž Ivanišin and Josip Lukić as well as festival director Daniel Hadenius-Ebner, declared Daniel Soares’ Please Make It Work as the winner in the international competition, while giving a Special Mention to Eivid Landsvik’s Tits. In the national competition, dubbed Checkers, the Golden Pram went to David Gašo and his Short Cut Grass, while Paško Vukasović’s Under the Rug scooped a Special Mention.

The 2023 edition of the Zagreb Film Festival also saw the return of the Golden Bicycle Award, which is given to filmmakers who return to the festival where they have already showcased their previous works. The jury, consisting of domestic film professionals Stanko Herceg, Višnja Skorin and Josip Žuvan, singled out Ilker Çatak’s LUX Audience Award nominee The Teachers’ Lounge [+leggi anche:
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intervista: İlker Çatak
intervista: Leonie Benesch
scheda film] as the best picture in the sidebar, describing it as “an intense film that takes the viewer through numerous moral quandaries, never leaving them with only one solution”. They also praised the precise directing, and the artful and well-thought-out cinematography.

The children’s jury also had their say when it came to the winner of the KinoKino festival, which, in its new format, now runs throughout the year, with its final round taking place on the margins of the Zagreb Film Festival. The five-member jury decided to reward the Spanish film Full of Grace [+leggi anche:
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scheda film] by Roberto Bueso.

Here is the full list of award winners:

Main Competition – Feature Film Programme

Golden Pram for Best Feature Film
How to Have Sex [+leggi anche:
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trailer
intervista: Molly Manning Walker
scheda film] – Molly Manning Walker (UK/Greece)

International Short Film Competition

Golden Pram
Please Make It Work – Daniel Soares (Switzerland/Portugal)
Special Mention
Tits – Eivind Landsvik (Norway)

National Short Film Competition (Checkers)

Golden Pram
Short Cut Grass – David Gašo (Croatia)
Special Mention
Under the Rug – Paško Vukasović (Croatia/Bosnia and Herzegovina)

Together Again

Golden Bicycle
The Teachers’ Lounge [+leggi anche:
recensione
trailer
intervista: İlker Çatak
intervista: Leonie Benesch
scheda film] – Ilker Çatak (Germany)

KinoKino

Best Film in the KinoKino Programme
Full of Grace [+leggi anche:
trailer
scheda film] – Roberto Bueso (Spain)