Zagreb's biggest autumn cultural event is back. The 24th Zagreb Film Festival runs from 9 to 15 November, scattering more than 100 films across the Croatian capital's cinemas — plus an online programme for those watching from afar.
The festival opens with a restored cut of Rondo, Zvonimir Berković's much-loved 1966 debut, which recently premiered again at the Lumière Festival in Lyon. From there, the week fills up with award winners and festival darlings: Queen at Sea, Lance Hammer's Silver Bear winner from Berlin starring Juliette Binoche and Tom Courtenay, screens in the main competition alongside Blerta Basholli's Dua, a Cannes Critics' Week premiere about adolescence in 1990s Pristina. North Macedonian director Kosara Mitić brings 17, a triple prize-winner at Sarajevo and her country's Oscar submission, while Venice Grand Jury Prize winner Oasis and Croatian director Mate Ugrin's Petty Thieves — a FIPRESCI-winning look at the harder side of seasonal tourism work — round out a strong field.
For visitors, the logistics are refreshingly simple. Screenings happen at Kaptol Boutique Cinema, Kinoteka, the Museum of Contemporary Art (MSU) and Cinema Surogat KIC, all within easy reach of the city centre. Tickets are €6–€7, with presales until 8 November knocking a euro off. Online sales run through the festival's ticketing site; box offices at Kaptol and Kinoteka open on 9 November, with the MSU counter following a day later.
Why care? Early November is Zagreb at its cosiest — café terraces with blankets, Christmas market scaffolding going up, and far fewer tourists than summer. Add a week of world-class cinema for the price of a coffee and a pastry, and it's an easy city break to justify. Film fans get a genuinely international programme; casual travellers get an excuse to spend dark evenings indoors with subtitles and then wander the Upper Town between screenings.
