Playbox Shorts Film Festival

Last night Playbox Shorts Film Festival opened its second year at Branimir Center Cinestar with over 400 guests, including Croatian Actors Arija Rizvić, Slavica Knežević, Petra Kurtela, Goran Grgić, Janko Popović Volarić and more. The festival was supported by 30 sponsors including Croatian Tourist Board, Urbane Ideje, VERN, NEM, and more. The night was filled with positive energy and excitement for the generation of film makers. Playbox Shorts is the only student short film festival in Zagreb, providing opportunity for students in Croatia and internationally with the goal of promoting Croatian film to the world.

The festival opened with Fran Uccelinni from The Voice Hrvatska’s new single Vizije, along with dancers Tanya Bendiš Šajn, Kristina Boljun, Hana Samardžić, and Patricija Kršić. Young actor, Lovro Juraga hosted the festival speech and special guests Dino Bajrović and Lazar Dragojević, from the HBO series “Znam Kako Dišeš”, were given special awards for their work.

The film segment began with two short films “Funcut” directed by Mario Gaćina and “Mak” directed by Luka Šamadan. Both films were produced in corporation with Playbox Production.

Karlo Gagulić premiered his new TV series, “Brod u Boci”, which will continue to be filmed during the 2024 – 2025 season, with actors Nataša Dangubić, Roko Klišmanić, Lukas Crvelin, Janko Popović Volarić, Slavica Knežević, Arija Rizvić, Jadranka Đokić, Dubravka Ostojić, Goran Grgić, Sandra Lončarić, Dino Bajrović, Vid Čosić, Dora Dimic Rakar, Karla Bura, Dominik Dolenc, Luka Gavranić, Nora Ban, Luka Šamadan, Inja Munić, Val Ivan Klašterka, and Špiro Lasić.

The following days of the festival include a Brunch Talk with the Stars powered by Franck in Wespa Spaces, with guest Mateja Božičević, Amazon Prime writer from Los Angeles, California, and a panel with Dino Bajrović and Lazar Drgaojević on the differences between film in the Balkans and Hollywood. The Croatian National Tourist board will present filming in Croatia, and the potential of film tourism and TensorPix will present video enhancement software through AI to assist film makers and archivist in film restoration.

On Friday, September 20th and Saturday, September 21st, film screenings of the 16 selected competition films will be free to watch at Branimir Center at 18:00h each night. Audience members will have the chance to vote for their favorite films from around the world and the Playbox Shorts professional jury will select the winning film. This year’s jury includes Roko Sikavica and Ivor Šiber.

The festival closes with an after party at Gem Garden with live music by Antonio Perina starting at 21:00h on Saturday, September 21st.

The organizers, Karlo Gagulić, director, Luka Šamadan, Nina Katarina Kovačić, Nora Ban, and Tanya Bendiš Šajn invite you to join us for all events this weekend and stay tuned for upcoming activities throughout the year with Playbox Shorts. We are excited to announce Playbox Shorts Split in December, and a summer workshop and screening series in August 2024 on the beautiful island Korčula.

All films will be available to watch online on the Playbox Shorts Cinema platform powered by Omnisearch.