Tabor New Frame Film Festival 2025
Young filmmakers and new cinematic
perspectives under the stars of Veliki Tabor
The 2025 edition of the Tabor New Frame Film Festival marked the beginning of a new chapter, introducing a refreshed format and a clear mission – to serve as a platform for filmmakers under the age of 35 who boldly explore the boundaries of film form and storytelling.
Held on July 4 and 5 in the unique setting of the Veliki Tabor Castle, the festival presented 49 short films from 32 countries, including four world premieres and 22 Croatian premieres, among them titles previously screened at prestigious festivals such as Cannes, Berlinale and Locarno.
The films were presented in three competition sections – International, Croatian and Student – creating a diverse programme that reflects the latest trends in contemporary filmmaking while addressing globally relevant themes through the lens of generational authenticity.
Melusine Awards and Special Mentions
The Melusine Award for Best Film in the International Competition went to the Portuguese-French film The Hunters by director David Pinheiro Vicente, praised for its masterful mise-en-scène and strong commentary on patriarchy and class inequality. A Special Mention in the same competition was awarded to the Portuguese-German animated film Tomorrow It Shouldn’t Rain by Maria Trigo Teixeira, which explores the fragile relationship between a mother and daughter through visually evocative animation.
In the Croatian Competition, the Melusine Award was presented to Greek Apricots by director Jan Krevatin, an intimate story about loneliness and the quiet connection between two people during a night shift at a gas station. The jury highlighted the film’s subtle atmosphere and natural performances.
In the Student Competition, the Melusine Award went to Blue Weasel by director Luka Vukorepa. The ambitious crime film had its world premiere at the festival and follows an arms dealer who agrees to assassinate a police chief in order to leave the criminal world behind. A Special Mention in this category was awarded to the documentary And Then Another One by director Karla Jelić, which addresses the issue of sexual harassment at the Zagreb Academy of Dramatic Art.
Educational and Entertainment Programme
The festival’s side programme included the workshop “Frame It Yourself: A Shot from the Legend”, where participants, guided by film educator Marina Buhin, learned the basics of film language and created their own short films using mobile phones while drawing inspiration from the legends and atmosphere of Veliki Tabor. Another workshop, “Frame It Yourself: Castle Shadows – A Photo Story of the Past”, invited participants to explore visual storytelling and interpret the castle’s surroundings through photography.
The festival also opened space for discussions on current challenges within the film industry. The panel “Green Initiatives: Can Tabor New Frame Film Become a Green Film Festival?” focused on possibilities for organising more sustainable cultural events, while the panel “Do Virtual Actors Need a Union?” explored the impact of artificial intelligence and digital avatars on creative industries. The keynote lecture was delivered by Professor Predrag Pale from the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computing at the University of Zagreb.
The entertainment programme featured a concert by Darko Rundek, which marked the festival’s official opening, while the event concluded with a screening of the Best Of films and a closing gathering accompanied by DJ Brcki.
Tabor New Frame Film Festival 2026
With its renewed identity and focus on young filmmakers, Tabor New Frame Film Festival continues to position itself as an important platform for contemporary short film in Croatia. By bringing together film screenings, educational programmes and discussions on the future of the audiovisual industry, the festival creates a meeting point for emerging filmmakers, audiences and film professionals alike. The next edition is scheduled for 2026, when Veliki Tabor will once again become a gathering place for authentic cinematic voices and new ideas.
TNFF 2026
Submit a film
TNFF 2025
Grand Prix of the Tabor New Frame Film Festival awarded to the Portuguese-French film “The Hunters” by David Pinheiro Vicente
TNFF 2025
Final day of TNFF marked by the Melusine awards for the best films
TNFF 2025
Tabor New Frame Film Festival officially opened
PROGRAM
RASPORED
ŽIRI
TIM
TABOR
NEW FRAME FILM
Nakon više od dva desetljeća kultnog Tabor Film Festivala započinje novo poglavlje. Tabor New Frame Film Festival međunarodna je proslava kratkometražnog filma koja u središte pozornosti stavlja hrabre autore mlađe od 35 godina. Festival se održava u spektakularnom ambijentu dvorca Veliki Tabor, a svi filmski programi, radionice i koncerti besplatni su za posjetitelje.
PROGRAM
RASPORED
ŽIRI
TIM
TABOR
NEW FRAME FILM
Nakon više od dva desetljeća kultnog Tabor Film Festivala započinje novo poglavlje. Tabor New Frame Film Festival međunarodna je proslava kratkometražnog filma koja u središte pozornosti stavlja hrabre autore mlađe od 35 godina. Festival se održava u spektakularnom ambijentu dvorca Veliki Tabor, a svi filmski programi, radionice i koncerti besplatni su za posjetitelje.
2026
International Competition
2026
Croatian Competition
2026
Student Competition
Submissions for the Tabor New Frame Film Festival 2026 competition programs are now open.
MEET THE JURY
Lev Slivnik
Slovenia
Lev Slivnik is originally from Ljubljana and is currently based in Amsterdam, where he earned a Master’s degree in Preservation and Presentation of the Moving Image from the University of Amsterdam. He works in the field of film programming and curation, with a primary focus on film festivals. Lev currently serves as a Program Producer at the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA) and as a Pre-Selector for the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival. He is also the co-organizer of Working Progress, a monthly work-in-progress screening series at Filmhuis Cavia in Amsterdam, which offers filmmakers the opportunity to receive audience feedback on their unfinished films. Previously, he was part of the pre-selection teams for Giornate degli Autori (Venice Days) and Lago Film Fest, and in 2023, he served on the Selection Panel for the LUX Audience Award.
Mário Macedo
Portugal
Mário Macedo (1989) was born and raised in a small town in the north of Portugal. His films have been selected for several festivals, such as Cannes Film Festival, Cairo IFF, Doclisboa IFF, Sarajevo Film Festival, Mostra São Paulo IFF, Clermont-Ferrand IFF and was awarded the Grand Prix and the European Film Academy Award at Curtas Vila do Conde 2024, the Best Director award at Curtas Vila do Conde 2021 and also got the National Grand Prix at FEST New Directors/New Films 2017. He published with Lebop (PT) and Editions Loco (FR), together with Olhar de Ulisses, his first photobook ‘Running Away Into You’, that premiered at Rencontre d'Arles in 2024.
Maruška Aras
Croatia
Maruška Aras is an actress born in 1996 in Zadar. She completed a five-year acting program at the Academy of Dramatic Art in Zagreb, where she currently lives. Maruška works as an external associate – assistant in the acting course at the Academy in the class of Borna Baletić. In addition, she occasionally leads drama workshops and film workshops for children and youth. Since graduating in 2019, she has performed in productions at the Croatian National Theatre in Varaždin, Split, and Zagreb, as well as at Teatar &TD, Teatro Verrdi, Eurokaz, Žar ptica, and others. Alongside productions in which she is engaged as an actress, she also collaborates with Teatro Verrdi on her own projects, developing her authorial expression. She played the lead role in the award-winning film Nun of Your Business directed by Ivana Kragić, and has taken on other roles in collaboration with various Croatian directors such as Tomislav Šoban, Nikica Zdunić, Vanja Juranić, Mate Ugrin, and others.
Abhishek Verma
India
Abhishek Verma is an animation filmmaker, screenwriter and design educator. He has been directing and producing independent animation films since 2014: Chasni – The Sugar Syrup (2014); Lukka Chuppi – Hide and Seek (2018); Manhole (2021), Into the Manhole VR experience (2024). His film Maacher Jhol (Fish Curry) from 2017, won the prestigious Indian National Film Award and the Annecy Award at the Annecy International Film Festival. He was honoured with an award at the Académie des César in 2019. His upcoming animation films are Kitchen - The World Within (a 2D animation short film) and a 2D animation feature film, Marita-Jeevita (Purity-Impurity), based on the notion of caste in India. He is presently a faculty member at the School of Design, IIT Bombay, India.
Sabina Krešić
Croatia
Sabina Krešić is a producer with many years of experience working in the cultural sector. Since 2016, she has been professionally engaged in film production as the lead producer at Fade In, a production company based in Zagreb. Her films have been screened and awarded at numerous renowned international festivals, including Sheffield Doc/Fest, DocLisboa, Trieste Film Festival, Sarajevo Film Festival, Tallinn Black Nights, True/False, Motovun Film Festival, DokuFest, FIPADOC, Liburnia Film Festival, and ZagrebDox. One of her most acclaimed recent projects is the documentary Factory to the Workers by Srđan Kovačević, considered one of the most awarded and critically praised Croatian documentaries in recent years. While she primarily collaborates with Croatian directors, she also works internationally, having co-produced with partners in Italy, Belgium, Slovenia, Spain, Serbia, Turkey, and Bosnia and Herzegovina. Her main focus is on documentary films and series, although she has also produced a fiction feature film – Full Speed Ahead (Punim plućima, dir. Radislav Jovanov Gonzo), which won two Golden Arenas at the Pula Film Festival in 2022. In 2023, she launched her own production company, Rastika, and co-founded the Mezzanine Collective, a studio dedicated to film production and image post-production.
Mladen Stanić
Croatia
Mladen Stanić is a film director and screenwriter from Split, Croatia. He graduated from the Academy of Dramatic Art in Zagreb with a Master's degree in Film Directing. He is currently developing his debut feature-length project. His short films have won awards at domestic and international film festivals. The most famous among them are: A Small Detail (2017), White Room (2018), Ark (2024) etc.
