The race for the Golden Pram continues at CineStar Branimir, Pedro Almodóvar’s queer western at the Museum of Contemporary Art, and premiere of the digitally restored classic by Bato Čengić dedicated to Alija Sirotanović at Kinoteka

The first festival day at CineStar Branimir brings two Croatian premieres of films from the feature competition. The British film How to Have Sex by Molly Manning Walker, which won the Un Certain Regard Award in Cannes and which Guardian describes as an “education in consent for party people”, screens at 6.30 PM. The film will be presented by producer Emily Leo.

Accompanied by director Vladimir Perišić (Ordinary People – ZFF 2009), lead actor Jovan Ginić, and co-producer Ankica Jurić Tilić (Kinorama), at 9 PM we will screen the Croatian premier of Lost Country, an authentic story about a conflict which arises when personal values and love clash. Young Serbian actor Jovan Ginić won two awards for his portrayal of Stefan – the Rising Star Award in Cannes and the Heart of Sarajevo for lead actor, and his mother is played by Jasna Đuričić (Quo Vadis, Aida?).

Tuesday at ZFF brings three powerful titles from the Great 5 program. Winner of the Palme d’Or, Anatomy of a Fall by Justine Triet, screens at Kinoteka cinema at 5 PM. This dark and intriguing drama with elements of a psychological thriller swept the French box office! Pedro Almodóvar’s lavish short film queer ode to the western genre, Strange Way of Life, screens at 8.30 PM at the Museum of Contemporary Art (MSU), followed by Upon Entry by Alejandro Rojas and Juan Sebastián Vásquez, a tense minimalist drama of “superb performances, micro-controlled editing and an unrelentingly claustrophobic atmosphere which amplifies universal airport anxieties into a whole movie” (Screen International).

The Together Again competition program starts at 6 PM at MSU, and first among many competitors for the Golden Bicycle is Teachers’ Lounge by İlker Çatak. This thrilling drama in which school power games are reflected on society is the German Academy Award candidate and the absolute winner of German film awards. The brilliant Leonie Benesch (Babylon, Berlin, The White Ribbon) is the lead actress.

The Network of Festivals in the Adriatic Region program brings a film lovers’ treat in Kinoteka Cinema at 8 PM – a screening of the restored cinema jewel of former Yugoslavia, the film Life of a Shock Force Worker (1972) by Bato Čengić. The digitally restored 4K version of a razor-sharp satire dedicated to the mining superstar Alija Sirotanović which some consider the pinnacle of the black wave will be shown at ZFF immediately after its premiere at the Venice Film Festival!

The short film competition program starts at Kinoteka Cinema at 10 PM with international titles: the German Sentimental Stories by Xandra Popescu, Greek-British Scorched Earth by Markela Kontaratou and the Bulgarian Everything Tastes Strange Today by Kristina Spassovska, and Croatian short films from the Checkers program Short Cut Grass by David Gašo and I’ll Be the First by Martina Marasović. Kinoteka also screens ZFF’s program for the youngest audience, KinoKino. Johannes Schmid’s New Tales of Franz (ages 7+), the second part of the detective serial about Franz — a great detective and smallest boy in his class — screens at 11 AM, and we will watch Nicole van Kilsdonok’s Okthanksbye (ages 10+), an adventure story about growing up, friendship, and family, at MSU at 4 PM.

Industry, a program for professionals, features two events: in the theatre hall of the Academy of Dramatic Arts from 11 AM to 12 PM, there will be a presentation about a call for the Creative Innovation Lab which is being held within the cross-sectoral sub-programme of the Creative Europe program. And MEDIA Info Day starts at 12 PM at the same place. Manager of Creative Europe Desk – MEDIA Office Martina Petrović will offer guidelines on how to apply your own film project to the sub-programme of Creative Europe MEDIA program calls. Both events are organised in cooperation with Creative Europe Desk – MEDIA Office Croatia.