Motovun Film Festival Announce Impressive Programme

There will be around 20 films, including Cannes, Venice, Tribeca and San Sebastian film festival winners, in the main program at this year’s 18th Motovun Film Festival, which will be held from 25 – 29 July in the Istrian village of Motovun…

More than 120 films will be screened in 120 hours of the festival which is considered one of the best in Croatia. The main program this year will feature numerous laureates from prestigious international festivals, led by The Lobster, the winner of Grand Prix in Cannes 2015, The High Sun by Dalibor Matanić, crowned with international stardom after winning a jury award in Un Certain Regard program of Cannes Film Festival, The Postman’s White Nights, which was a winner of a Silver Lion in Venice, and from Spain the San Sebastian Film Festival Golden Shell winner Magical Girl by Carlos Vermut.

“Once again we are happy to have a wide variety of films in our main program – ranging from those with sound references to some little surprises that, we hope, could soon turn into big ones. The last such example was Pawel Pawlikovski’s Ida: screened last year in Motovun as a relatively unknown film, it has gained international acclaim in the meantime, winning numerous awards, including the Oscar for Best Film in Foreign Language. An opportunity to show to our audiences a still unknown film we believe they will love is what makes us particularly glad. Naturally, this does not mean we won’t be showing successful films from big international festivals – the ones that, in some parallel universe, would have good viewer ratings even in Croatian multiplexes, thus making their screening in Motovun unnecessary,” said Motovun Film Festival programmer Milena Zajović, before commenting on the fact that the festival is coming of age this year – the fact that is reflected on its main program.

“The visitors can expect a handful of little tricks and jokes about coming of age, and the good and bad things of growing up will permeate the entire program. As three powerful films dealing with coming of age, I can mention here the eccentric British film Falling, Irish comedy You’re Ugly Too and the anxiety-loaded Bridgend from Denmark. Interestingly, the actors from all three films also have the lead roles in the TV series Game Of Thrones: Maisie Williams, Aidan Gillen and Hannah Murray.”

Festival director Igor Mirković said that apart from the main programme, their will be a number of attractive side programs.

“You can count on a great line-up of French films as part of Rendez-vous – The Festival of France in Croatia. With the Danish program “Twenty Years of Dogme 95″ we will revisit the cinematic movement that left a strong mark in the early years of our festival. As the festival is not just a mere summer pastime, but also reflects the concerns about the world we live in, we have prepared the God, Help Us program – a series of documentaries on extremisms in all religions. And for the first time ever, TV series will find their way to the festival big screens, being the most vital aspect of film industry in the past years. With the help of some exemplary series, we will try to find out how top European TV series are created,” he said.

18th Motovun Film Festival program announced at a press conference

France will be the festival’s Partner Country this year. As part of Rendez-vous – Festival of France in Croatia, a wide variety of French films and some accompanying attractions will be coming to Motovun. The main program will include at least four French films: Jacky In The Kingdom Of Women by the French comic strip author and satirist and former Charlie Hebdo contributor Riad Sattouf, P’tit Quinquin by Bruno Dumont. The main retrospective program called The Brutal French features a selection of films by the authors considered members of what was called the “new French extremism” at the turn of the century. The line-up includes some early works of some of the greatest filmmakers of today, such as Leos Carax, François Ozon and Claire Denis.

All those who set out on a cinematic pilgrimage 277 meters above reality will not be deprived of entertainment because the festival has prepared a varied program marking its 18th birthday. During the five days of the festivals, all the visitors will have the privilege to live by the motto “watch what I please, do what I please”. In the Motovun Wedding Night, everybody will be able to marry anyone else, and all those above the age of 18 will have a chance to get an original Motovun souvenir on their skin. Numerous bands led by Repetitor (Belgrade), ABOP (Zagreb) and Joke (Paris) will take care of the unforgettable auditory stimuli.

Hrvatski Telekom will once again support Motovun Film Festival, as well as in the telecommunication services it will provide. Sanja Milinović, Director of the Market Appearance Department of Hrvatski telekom, said a few words about the festival’s cooperation with the general sponsor: Besides for the organizational needs, HT will provide free wireless Internet throughout the town of Motovun. Sponsoring film festivals is a natural choice for HT because, by providing its MAXtv service, it brings together the festival and viewers, particularly the ones who will not make it to Film Hill this year. MAXtv users will thus have an opportunity to watch premieres of selected festival hits and short films from this year’s MFF in the MAXtv Video Store and – for the first time – on MAXtv To Go platform.