ZFF is a fabulous film festival. I was lucky to catch the last couple days and meet Jadran Boban, a Croatian director, who had been to the Kansas International Film Festival, with his film The Ghosts of Zagreb in September. But, of course, I was not in KC in September, so we met for the first time in Zagreb. Great guy. Here we are sharing a beer at the cinema cafe.
The Zagreb Film Festival uses six different venues in the city. Europa cinema was one block from my hotel, so I went there to catch a couple films my first day in Zagreb. I saw a Canadian film, I Killed My Mother, and a film from U.K., Somers Town. All the films have English subtitles – thank you ZFF!! And on the last day of the fest, I caught the Romanian film The Happiest Girl in the World.
The crowds are truly impressive. Here is a video that shows the cinema and the café outside where folks are gathering for the fest, the inside as they are lining up – oh, my - that shot in the theatre was a 3 p.m. Friday screening. I was shocked at how many people came at that time of day.
SNEAKING INTO THE FILM FESTIVAL Saturday night, I did not buy a ticket in advance. The theater is large, I reasoned. But it was sold out. So I snuck in without a ticket – but I won’t give you the details to protect my sources. I had made friends the day before at the festival.
The festival has great graphics and you see its distinctive character and logo in all its advertisements. Before each film it had a cute short film of its “mascot” jumping out of an airplane, Bond style adventure. Very clever.
Jadran took me to a cinema nearby that shows ONLY documentary films - Docukino. It was packed. Can you imagine a cinema in Kansas City that shows only documentary films. Hey Brian and Ben - how about devoting a screen in one of your theatres???
Sneaking in to the film, huh.
ReplyDeleteIt does sound like you were in film heaven.