The most-watched Croatian films of the year revealed 

Ljeto kada sam naučila letjeti (Photo credit: Kinorama)

ZAGREB, January 10 – Croatian cinematography achieved notable success in the past year, with 278,053 viewers watching local films. 

This positions the year 2023 as the third most successful year since the establishment of the Croatian Audiovisual Centre (HAVC), just behind 2013 (436,074 viewers) and 2012 (328,158 viewers). 

Moreover, compared to the previous year, 2022 (with 220,776 viewers), 2023 shows a 26% increase in viewership.

A total of 39 Croatian films were screened in theatres, including 28 premieres: 22 feature films, eight of which were minority co-productions, and six documentaries, three of which were minority co-productions. Eleven films began cinema distribution in 2022.

The most-watched domestic films in the past year were “Dnevnik Pauline P.” directed by Neven Hitrec, with 91,659 viewers (Jaka produkcija), and the animated film “Cvrčak i mravica” directed by Luka Rukavina, with 80,765 viewers (Diedra).

Dnevnik Pauline P. (Photo: Fran Hitrec)

The third-highest film in terms of viewership is the comedy “Marginalci” directed by Ljubomir Kerekeš (Kerekesh Teatar), which garnered 8,481 viewers in 2023 (cinema distribution began in 2022).

In fourth place is the feature film “Smrt djevojčice sa žigicama” by Goran Kulenović (Livada produkcija) with 8,446 viewers, followed by the film “Samo kad se smijem” by Vanja Juranić (Maxima filma) with 7,854 viewers. The list continues with “Sedmo nebo” by Jasna Nanut (Petnaesta umjetnost) with 7,573 viewers and “Escort” by Lukas Nola (Kinorama) with 7,411 viewers.

Sedmo nebo (Petnaesta umjetnost)

The eighth spot goes to the children’s film “Ljeto kada sam naučila letjeti” by Radivoj Andrić (co-production Kinorama) with 7,295 viewers, while the documentary “El Shatt – nacrt za utopiju” by Ivan Ramljak (Kompot) secured the ninth place with 5,788 viewers. Rounding out the top ten is “Infinity Pool” by Brandon Cronenberg (co-production 4film) with 5,165 viewers.

(Image: Cvrčak i mravica)

Following these are films such as “Sveta obitelj” by Vlatka Vorkapić, “Hotel Pula” by Andrej Korovljev, “Bosanski lonac” by Pave Marinković, “Punim plućima” by Radoslav Jovanov Gonza, “Pelikan” by Filip Heraković, “Kapa” by Slobodan Maksimović (co-production Studio dim), “Glava velike ribe” by Arsen Oremović, “Šesti autobus” by Eduard Galić, “Garbura” by Josip Žuvan, “Sigurno mjesto” by Juraj Lerotić, “Snajka – dnevnik očekivanja” by Tea Vidović Dalipi, “Tragovi” by Dubravka Turić, and many others.

In regular cinema distribution, a total of 39 Croatian films were shown, with eleven starting distribution in 2022. The Croatian Audiovisual Centre supported 29 projects through a public call for distribution, with a total amount of EUR 193,700.00.

*The viewership results of domestic films and minority co-productions were directly collected from distributors.