12.11.2016
The opening ceremony of the 14th Zagreb Film Festival took place on Saturday, 12 November, at the Europa Cinema with the screening of the Finnish candidate for the Oscar Academy Award The Happiest Day in the Life of Olli Mäki. During the opening ceremony, the audience was addressed by the director of this heartfelt tale about love and boxing, Juho Kuosmanen, and the actress Oona Airola, who in the film played the part of Raija, a woman because of whom the Finnish boxing champion Olli Mäki was almost late for the World Championship.
According to Juho Kuosmanen, Olli Mäki is a film that addresses the issue of boxing, albeit it primarily tackles the issue of people who are given a once in a lifetime opportunity and they manage to ruin it. The film was inspired by personal experience, as well as the pressure that the promising young film director felt and, surprisingly, he hadn’t been inspired by Rocky and Raging Bull, but a collection of essays On Boxing by the female author Joyce Carol Oates.
The 14th edition of Zagreb Film Festival, a 9-day film festival, will take place from Saturday, 12 November, to Sunday, 20 November, at the best European cinema, the Europa Cinema, at the Tuškanac Cinema, and in four more venues in the city. In order to mark its 14th anniversary, the Festival will present over 100 films, providing the broadest range of genres and topics addressed thus far, and it is hence not surprising that the Festival will be visited by some reputable personalities from the city of the broadest range of profiles, as well as over 150 visitors from throughout the world, as was stressed also in this year’s Festival visual materials.
Zagreb Film Festival will also see the participation of other film teams from the main programme: hence the Liberation of Skopje film team will arrive to Zagreb on Monday, as well as its directors Danilo and Rade and the actress Lucija Šerbedžija, the composer Vlatko Stefanovski, and the producers Igor A. Nola and Goran Tozija. Tuesday will see the film team of Quit Staring at My Plate: its director Hana Jušić, as well as the actors Mija Petričević, Arijana Čulina, Nikša Butijer, Zlatko Burić – Kićo, the producer Ankica Jurić Tilić, and the remainder of the film cast. Thursday will see the arrival of Morgan Simon, the director of A Taste of Ink, and the team that participated in the creation of the film The Trampoline, headed by its director Katarina Zrinka Matijević. On Friday, the Festival visitors will enjoy the company of actors Ekatarina Japaridze and Branko Đurić starring in the film the House of Others, its producer Dario Domitrović, and the female Israeli film director Maysaloun Hamoud, who will present the film Two Worlds.
The closing of the Festival at 8 p.m. on Saturday will see the screening of the film entitled Crash by David Cronenberg that will be attended by the cinematographer Peter Suschitzky and the leading role actress from this cult film that marks its 20th anniversary this year, Deborah Kara Unger. Within the programme named INDUSTRY, Zagreb will be visited by Tony Grisoni, co-screenwriter of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas and of HBO series The Young Pope, who will deliver a masterclass on Saturday, 19th November, within the event This is How We Do It! intended to mark the 25th anniversary of MEDIA Sub-programme and Canada joining the Eurimages Fund on 17th November, when Zagreb will be visited by high representatives of a large number of European and other international film bodies.
The Happiest Day in the Life of Olli Mäki
Thirty-three films are competing for the Golden Pram award (13 feature films, 10 short films, and 10 from the Checkers programme), while the best film in the Together Again programme, which is also competing starting from this year, will be awarded a Golden Bicycle. Moreover, films from the PLUS programme will also be competing and evaluated by a teen jury, while for the youngest audiences Zagreb Film Festival has prepared Bibijada children’s programme sponsored by RBA to open at 11 a.m. on Sunday, at the Europa Cinema, with a screening of an appealing comedy Mr Twister on Stage. This programme marks its 10th anniversary on 19 November at the Europa Cinema, and in addition to the screening there will also be a cake and gifts for the youngest visitors.
Furthermore, there will also be popular programmes the Big 5, with 2 finalists for the so-called European Film Award, Julietta by Pedro Almodóvar and Elle by Paul Verhoeven, and LUX Film Days with the screening of the German-Austrian comedy drama Toni Erdmann directed by Maren Ade, who has this year received a record number of nominations for the previously mentioned European Film Award; the film has been competing for the award in the categories of Best Picture, Best Actress, Best Actor, Best Screenplay, and Best Director.
All those interested in good film entertainment need to visit the address 22 Frankopanska Street, the address of F22 – New Academy Scene and Dokukino KIC, to attend the screenings of free Zagreb Film Festival programmes What Made Us Laugh in Socialism and Mockumentaries.
Hrvatski Telekom is the general sponsor of the Festival, and hence MAXtv users will be provided the opportunity to enjoy very interesting and attractive films and exclusive contents from Zagreb Film Festival.
The warm-up for the Festival commenced with the opportunity to enjoy the programme of award winning films from previous Festival editions that were available without any additional charges both in MAXtv Video Library and on MAXtv To Go commencing from Wednesday, 9 November, to Friday, 11 November: The Robber (the award-winning film at ZFF in 2010), It Runs in the Family (the award-winning film at ZFF in 2012), and Dabba/The Lunchbox (the award-winning film at ZFF in 2013). Just before the opening of the Festival, MAXtv Video Library provided the opportunity to watch the last year’s Zagreb Film Festival winner and this year’s winner of the Academy Award for the Best Foreign Language Film – Son of Saul.
During the week of the ZFF film, enthusiasts throughout Croatia will be provided the opportunity to enjoy a selection of high quality films exclusively available in MAXtv Video Library following their last screening at Zagreb Film Festival: The Happiest Day in the Life of Olli Mäki (the winner of the Certain Regard section at this year’s Cannes Film Festival), One of Us (a powerful drama from the official list of candidates for this year’s European Film Award), Macadam Stories/Asphalt.
The Europa Cinema has also prepared MAXtv Filmofeel corner for the visitors, where visitors are given the opportunity to gain absolutely new experiences at VR fotkaona (a special room for taking pictures) and VR contents through Samsung Gear VR Headset.
Comprehensive information on the programme is avaible on Zagreb Film Festival Web site.