The festival will take place November 9 – 11.
After several successful screenings at various Zagreb cinemas (accompanied by Zagreb Philharmonic Orchestra at Kino Europa, for example), we can say that silent films have made a true comeback in Zagreb, and one of the principal reasons for this is PSSST! Silent Film Festival, where silent film lovers were able to enjoy films by Miletić, Ejzenštejn, Dreyer, Browning, and other famous silent film directors.
The Festival has existed since 2011, when the Veliki Brcko Prize was established, honouring the first Croatian silent film – Brcko u Zagrebu (Brcko in Zagreb). Last year’s winner was Spanish director Pacheco Iborra and his film ¡Aleluja!
This year, the festival takes place November 9 – 11 at Centar za kulturu Trešnjevka (Park Stara Trešnjevka 1) and the jury has selected the following films to compete for the Veliki Brcko Prize:
- For the Sake of Slapstick, Minsun Lee (2015), Germany, 2′
- Le Chat Doré, Nata Moreno (2017), Spain, 6′
- The Bridge over the River / Die Brücke über den Fluss, Jadwiga Kowalska (2016), Switzerland, 6′
- The Bicycle, Francesco Gabriele, (2014), United Kingdom, 4′
- Kukuschka, Dina Velikovskaya (2016), Russia, 8′
- The Man Who Was Ill, Luke Aaron Marsden (2016), Australia, 13′
- Love / Ljubav, Ognjen Petković (2017), Serbia, 13′
- Mine / Mio, Rodrigo Canet (2013), Spain, 4′
- Boredom / Malal, Salma Gabriel (2017), Egypt / Germany, 6′
- Nothing Will Ever Come Back / Ništa se ne može vratiti, Damir Radić (2017), Croatia, 7′
- Zapp Galura – Behemoth, Mike Kern, (2016), Austria, 6′
- Cold Storage, Thomas Freundlich (2016), Finland, 9′
- Big Booom, Marat Narimanov (2016), Russia, 4’
- Citipati, Andreas Feix (2015), Germany, 7’
- Maelstrøm, Carlos Gómez-Trigo (2017), Spain, 3’
- The pencil / Le crayon, Basile Vuillemin (2017), Switzerland, 1’
- Call of cuteness, Brenda Lien (2017), Germany, 4’
- Hey, Over Here! no #3 / Poglej me, no #3, Davorin Marc (2015), Slovenia, 4’
- Au revoir Balthazar, Rafael Sommerhalder (2017), Switzerland, 10’
- Princessboy / Prinsesspojken, Sosi Chamoun (2016), Sweden, 9’
- Sofía, Anabel Caso (2017), Mexico, 11’
- The Living Go Ahead, Живые идут дальше, Pavel Palekhin (2017), Russia, 9’
- Ex Terrat, Reinhold Bidner (2016), Austria / France, 6’
- Prologue / Prolog, Vjekoslav Gašparović (2017), Croatia, 9’
- Roger, Ingrid Masarnau Amrós, Sonia Cendón Quireza, Sara Esteban Riera, Arnau Gódia Montesinos, Marti Montañola Vilet (2016), Spain, 7’
As you can see, there are films from all over the world, so the competition is certainly going to be tough.
In addition to films that are originally meant to be silent, the festival aims to be a media experiment, so the jury accepts films that the authors feel communicate with the audience even if the sound is removed, and the organisers will provide a high-quality musical background, making a completely new film and adding to the overall unpredictable nature of the festival. Moreover, musicians sometimes improvise, so not even the organisers know what to expect, other than a great musical spectacle, for various music lovers – from jazz and rock, to electro music. This year’s artists include Vitomir Ivanjek on the piano, Sunrise Session and Kaplowitzi. Little film lovers in the making will not be forgotten – there will also be matinees for children.
There is a new theme each year and this year’s topic is Film and the City – two sides of the same coin, symptoms of a modern life. Although cities are older than film, the urban revolution overlapped with the development of film in the 19th c. Urban topics can be seen in films even if they’re not the films’ main topics, where the metropolis is the stage of gags, sketches, neurosis and anxiety of the contemporary man.
The Croatian State Archives will be in charge of presenting Croatian film heritage, so visitors will get a chance to see how Croatian director Oktavijan Miletić saw Zagreb in the first half of the 20th c. through his documentary films. There be a discussion with anthropologist Valentina Gulin Zrnić on everyday life in Zagreb at the time, as well as a presentation of Brcko in Zagreb-themed stamp for the 100th anniversary of its first screening.
Click here for the full programme.
Find out more here and like PSSST! Silent Film Festival on Facebook.
