Given the recent rise in COVID-19 cases, to keep guests and crews safe, Zagreb Film Festival (ZFF) is going digital this year. The 18th edition of the festival will be held on Kino Europa's website and Croatian film platforms.
On the new festival's new script, the Zagreb Film Festival director, Boris T. Matić says:
"Preparing for the festival, we wrote a couple of scenarios for ourselves, which we, like an unhappy director, changed, amended, and modified in accordance with new circumstances, rearranging the festival in different combinations between online
and offline versions, and all of it so we, as true lovers of film art, could show the films where they belong – on the big screen.
"Following the developments and being witness to a difficult situation in which our healthcare system is, we made the decision that we do not want, in any circumstances, to jeopardize the health of our audience and festival crew. We’ve faced a number of challenges from the start. This one might be our biggest yet.
"But I firmly believe that we’ll celebrate film as it deserves – with authors there, physically close to each other, talking and partying."
Festival dates will remain as planned: from November 8 to 15.
Showings from the main program, which includes the feature and short competitions, the Together Again program, the Great 5, and Festivals in the Spotlight, will air on Kino Europa. Checkers, the competition for Croatian short films, will be shown on Croatian Film.
Stay tuned for the release of ZFF'S full film schedule, which will be announced in early November.