Zagreb’s ninth annual film festival managed to attract nearly 27,000 viewers – a feat that has made it one of the few film festivals in the country with more visitors than in 2010. The eight-day event featured some 100 script writers, actors and other movie professionals from around the world.
From 16-23 October, audiences had a chance to view 90 films, each in its own category competing for a Golden Pram, the festival’s main prize.
This year’s selection featured works from some of the most renowned festivals in the world, such as Cannes, Sundance, Venice, and Berlin. One of the most engaging works screened was Paddy Considine’s Tyrannosaur (2011), which took home the best director prize at the 2011 Sundance Festival, and won the 9th Zagreb Festival’s Audience Award.
“The Zagreb Film Festival differs from other festivals in Croatia and the region in that it awards a director’s first- or second-ever work, in three different categories. We’re not the only ones in Europe to do so; in fact, the concept is popular, but we are the only ones in these parts,” festival director Boris T. Matić told Southeast Europe: People and Culture.
The 2011 Golden Pram Award for best feature film went to the Austrian film Michael (2011), by Markus Schleinzer. The intriguing investigation of paedophilia was an award favourite from the start, and eventually took home the 4,000-euro grand prize. In the same category Israeli Eran Kolirin’s The Exchange (2011), received a Special Mention Award.
