Industry Youth!
Workshop and Pitching Forum
The rich ZFF Industry programs usually focus on training for more mature film professionals. However, we also launched a separate student grants program called Industry Youth!. In collaboration with film academies from the region, the program offers seven-day festival attendance grants to two students from each of the academies. In a collaboration between the Zagreb Film Festival Industry program and five film academies from the region – from Sarajevo, Belgrade, Cetinje, Skopje, and Zagreb – 10 students and their 5 projects have been selected to participate in developing their short fiction films in intensive preparatory workshops.
Participants and projects
Academy of Dramatic Art in Zagreb (ADU)
Ana Šiškov, Roza Medvešek (Routine)
Academy of Performing Arts in Sarajevo (ASU)
Emir Solaković, Omar Homarac (The First Kiss of the Man With Exploding Spit)
Faculty of Dramatic Arts in Belgrade (FDU Beograd)
Novak Šipetić, Katarina Bugarin (Wounded Tribe)
Faculty of Dramatic Arts in Cetinje (FDU Cetinje)
Tamara Pavićević, Katarina Kastratović (Nothing Personal Daddy)
Faculty of Dramatic Arts in Skopje (FDU Skoplje)
Tina Veličković, Ramona Monja Kočiška (Moon)
Academy of Dramatic Art in Zagreb (ADU)
Ana Šiškov (director), Roza Medvešek (producer)
ROUTINE
Karmen (30) works in the cold-cuts section at a small island convenience store. She lives with her single parent dad Miro (65), who keeps her under a bell jar even though she is already a grown woman. Karmen desperately wants to break free from her boring routine so she imposes herself on a beautiful blonde woman whom she accidentally meets at the store. As the beautiful blonde woman’s life becomes more complicated, so does Karmen’s.
Ana Šiškov
She was born in Split in 1999. While attending language-focused secondary school, she enrolled in the Split Cinema Club, where she became an active member and made her first hybrid short film, Maslo. After finishing high school, she became a student of film directing at the Academy of Dramatic Art in Zagreb and joined the Blank_Film Incubator. She directed two music videos and the fiction short Pegla i slanina.
Roza Medvešek
Born in Zagreb in 1998. She earned her BA in Polish and Slovak at the Faculty of Humanities in Zagreb, after which she enrolled in production studies at ADU. She has been an active member of the Zagreb Youth Theatre for five years. She also works as an assistant director and drama pedagogist at the same theatre.
Academy of Performing Arts in Sarajevo (ASU)
Emir Solaković (director, writer), Omar Homarac (producer)
THE FIRST KISS OF A MAN WITH EXPLODING SPIT
Locked in a prison cell, the lonely Man with Exploding Saliva recalls the defining moments in his life. He starts remembering the first time his power hurt someone and the reasons why he can’t go to cafés or restaurants. He then tells the police inspector how he met his first girlfriend and afterwards ended up in prison.
Emir Solaković
Born in 2000 in Sarajevo, where he enrolled in literary studies. After a year, he left his studies to pursue filmmaking at the Academy of Performing Arts in Sarajevo. He is currently a third-year of student of film and theatre directing.
Omar Homarac
A student of production and management at the Academy of Performing Arts in Sarajevo. During the two years of his studies, he worked as a producer on numerous projects and participated in several festivals. He worked as an assistant on the CineLink Sarajevo Film Festival platform and as organizer of Pstfest.
Faculty of Dramatic Arts in Belgrade (FDU Beograd)
Novak Šipetić (director), Katarina Bugarin (producer)
WOUNDED TRIBE
In the tribe’s encounter with a cave lion, the Chief dies and the Hunter is left motionless. Under the Tamer’s leadership, the tribe continues to care for the Hunter. While the Warrior asserts himself as the new leader, the Hunter falls under the influence of supernatural apparitions. Although he cannot stand up to the Warrior, the Hunter still challenges him to a fight.
Novak Šipetić
Born in 2000 in Belgrade. A student of F&TV direction at FDU. Author of short and medium-length fiction, documentary, experimental and animated films: Tag (2019), Lud (2020), Liminal (2021), Formula uspeha (2021), Fajter (2022), Miladin Đorović (2021) and Biraj (2022). Projects in post-production – Odbačeni iz Sinositija, U zoni, Vanila and Preobražaj.
Katarina Bugarin
Born in 2001 in Pančevo. A third year student of F&TV production at FDU. Producer of the fiction films Ispočetka (2020), Ajmo Sajfer (2021), Kazneni udarac (2021), Homo Homini Lupus (2022), Zgažene (2022). Director of the KAMEO Short Film Festival in Čačak. Production assistant of the KinoEko film workshop, as well as festivals Mr. Vorky, Bistre Reke and Balkanima.
Faculty of Dramatic Arts in Cetinje (FDU Cetinje)
Tamara Pavićević (director), Katarina Kastratović (producer)
NOTHING PERSONAL DADDY
When a man succumbs to a severe psychological crisis and starts deteriorating physically, the village blames his wife and daughter for the illness. Although they perform their roles in line with social expectations, the invisible illness of the head of the family ostracizes them from society and threatens their existence. Seeing her mother’s suffering and her father’s inaction, the daughter takes matters into her own hands.
Tamara Pavićević
Film producer and director. She is currently a final year graduate student of film directing at the FDU Cetinje. She directed and wrote the short film Yellow Wave, currently in post-production. Produced the film Idiot (2021) directed by Sara Stijović, which was awarded at the Boden International Film Festival in Sweden.
Katarina Kastratović
She completed her undergraduate studies in F&TV production at FDU Cetinje. Producer at the Radio and Television of Montenegro. She was a production assistant on the documentary The Last Nomads by Biljana Tutorov and Petar Glomazić. From 2019 to 2021, she was the CEO of KA Productions.
Faculty of Dramatic Arts in Skopje (FDU Skopje)
Tina Veličković (director, screenwriter), Ramona Monja Kočiška (producer)
MOON
Sara (27) is a medical intern whose ambition is to succeed in her goal: to become the best heart surgeon in the country. Sarah does not want to miss an open-heart surgery for anything in the world, until a Girl (8) arrives at the hospital, who takes her back to her childhood and for the first time Sarah shows that behind a strong image of a surgeon, there is a little sensitive girl hiding.
Tina Veličković
A third-year student of Film and TV Directing at the Faculty of Dramatic Arts in Skopje. Her student films include Blue Bird – Selfportrait, Machor, Progesteror(n), Seven Deadly Sins, she also worked as a first and second assistant director on several short films and TV formats.
Ramona Monja Kočiška
Born in 2001 in Skopje. At the age of 15, she started volunteering at film and music festivals. Her first festival was MakeDox, where she now works. Her first film Log Out (2019) screened at several domestic and international festivals. She is a production student at the FDU Skopje. To date, she has made two short student films.
