Tabor New Frame Film Festival 2025
Croatian films at the Tabor
New Frame Film Festival
Besides eight films in the Croatian Competition, domestic productions are also represented in the Student Competition. As part of this year’s Tabor New Frame Festival, held on July 4–5 in the magical setting of Veliki Tabor Castle, special attention is given to domestic production, presenting a cross-section of the newest and most interesting works by Croatian filmmakers in the short film format. This year, eight films have been selected for the Croatian Competition, coming from different genre, aesthetic, and authorial positions — from fiction, animation, and experimental works to documentaries. What they share is a strong authorial vision, freshness of approach, and social relevance. Films from the Croatian Competition will be screened on July 4 at 5 PM in the Rustica Cinema Hall.
Among the fiction titles, The summer we left behind, directed by Mia Bujan and Dorotea Ilečić Sever, stands out, in which the vacation of two girls unexpectedly turns into a psychological thriller after an accident. A similar realism, but in a gentler tone, characterizes Greek Apricots by Jan Krevatin, about the quiet connection between two lonely people during a summer night shift at a gas station. No Problem by Marijan Mlinar explores teenage friendship and the limits of trust through a story about sneaker reselling in Zagreb, while the documentary Embroidery by Franka Štrkalj and Jelka Margarita Bogdanić brings an intimate portrait of Mrs. Marija, a craftswoman from the Dolac market who has been making hand-embroidered clothing for decades.
In animation, two works stand out: VŠMŠ by Nele Gluhak, an extremely short but effective animation about a cat trying to take a nap, and Butterfly by Sunčana Brkulj, a Croatian-Danish co-production that, through the story of a community of garden creatures, deals with questions of balance and solidarity.
The experimental segment is represented by Dragon Hunt by Marko Gutić Mižimakov, inspired by the science fiction and queer poetics of Samuel Delany, combining machine learning, performance, and the landscape of the Dalmatian hinterland into a powerful visual experience.
Special attention should be given to Ombre by Giulia Dussich, which will have its world premiere at Tabor. Through mythologically inspired visual narration and symbolism, the film explores themes of death, transformation, and identity in dialogue with nature.
Croatian film is also represented in the International Competition with one minority co-production (The Sea Between Us, dir. Lun Sevnik), but with as many as ten films in the Student Competition, spanning different genres. Blue Weasel by Luka Vukorepa, also having its world premiere, plays with crime-genre conventions, following a crime-scene cleaner drawn into one last — possibly fatal — job. In another world premiere, the animated film Bangs by Dora Kvež portrays, through humorous and absurd aesthetics, a young girl struggling with a pimple that leads her into a surreal bathroom world.
The visually striking animation Beast by Andrea Miletić deals with confronting personal fears and toxic parental relationships. A similar physical-emotional tension appears in Spine by Marta Margetić, a miniature about pain and exhaustion expressed through gesture.
The documentary essay Sea of Tranquility by Sara Gurdulić uses family archives and the sounds of space to question the boundaries between silence and historical forgetting. In Komorebi by Lucija Katarina Šešelj (Croatian premiere), two girls rebuild their friendship during a rural afternoon through a series of subtle gestures and glances.
The dark comedy drama Dog of a Famous Person by Jozo Schmuch tells an unexpected story about the theft of a famous singer’s dog, bringing suppressed family truths to the surface. And Yet Another One by Karla Jelić is one of the festival’s strongest political films: through the testimony of Vida Skerk, a former student of the Zagreb Academy of Dramatic Art, the film speaks about sexual harassment and the systemic neglect of victims.
In the ambitious film Mago by Dominik Čiček, evoking the atmosphere of a historical western, we follow a young man named Pončo and his donkey on a journey through northern Croatia in the late 19th century. On that journey, one act of helping strangers triggers a chain of events that will change his life. Finally, Spurius by Luka Eterović shapes a genre story about a young man who sees fragments of the future and tries to connect them before tragedy occurs.
These eighteen films confirm that Croatian short film continues to question, experiment, and provoke interest.
TNFF 2026
Love, Pressure and the Transformation of Everyday Life: The Croatian Competition of the Tabor New Frame Film Festival Featuring Three World Premieres and the Directorial Debut of Monika Herceg
TNFF 2026
Social inequalities, political realities, and identities: The international competition of the Tabor New Frame Film Festival presents films by a generation growing up in crisis
TNFF 2026
Young Filmmakers from Desinić and Pregrada Explore Veliki Tabor and Create Their Own Films
TNFF 2025
Grand Prix of the Tabor New Frame Film Festival awarded to the Portuguese-French film “The Hunters” by David Pinheiro Vicente

PROGRAM
SCHEDULE
JURY
TEAM
TABOR
NEW FRAME FILM
After more than two decades of the cult Tabor Film Festival, a new chapter begins. Tabor New Frame Film Festival is an international celebration of short film, spotlighting bold filmmakers under the age of 35. Set in the spectacular surroundings of Veliki Tabor Castle, all film programs, workshops, and concerts are free of charge for all visitors.


PROGRAM
SCHEDULE
JURY
TEAM
TABOR
NEW FRAME FILM
After more than two decades of the cult Tabor Film Festival, a new chapter begins. Tabor New Frame Film Festival is an international celebration of short film, spotlighting bold filmmakers under the age of 35. Set in the spectacular surroundings of Veliki Tabor Castle, all film programs, workshops, and concerts are free of charge for all visitors.
2026
International Competition
2026
Croatian Competition
2026
Student Competition
MEET THE JURY
2026
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.
International Competition Jury
Dušan Kasalica
MontenegroDušan Kasalica graduated in Film Directing from the Faculty of Dramatic Arts in Cetinje, Montenegro, where he continues to teach today. He is actively working as a screenwriter, director, and producer. His films, both as a director and as a producer, have been screened at festivals such as Cannes Film Festival, Venice Film Festival, International Film Festival Rotterdam, and Sarajevo Film Festival. He is a member of the European Film Academy.
Eliza Ceprăzaru
RomaniaEliza Ceprăzaru comes from a theatre background having worked in theatre production and festival coordination, notably with the National Theatre in Sibiu and the Sibiu International Theatre Festival, where she led the Sibiu Performing Arts Market. Beyond theatre, she has contributed to the production of arts and culture festivals and events across Romania, working with diverse teams and creative projects. Her transition to the film industry began during the Covid-19 pandemic, when stage productions started being filmed and presented on screen - a turning point that led her to cinema. In 2023 she joined Tudor Giurgiu’s team at Libra Films, and has since been involved in various stages of production and release of a wide range of titles, including short films (All That Remains, d. Andrei Redinciuc), feature films (On Our Own, d. Tudor Cristian Jurgiu; The Spruce Forest, d. Tudor Giurgiu, We Won’t Get Old Together, d. Marius Olteanu), and documentaries (Nasty, d. Tudor Giurgiu; Hep Hep Hop, d. Alex Brendea). She is also involved in the Transilvania International Film Festival, taking place in Cluj-Napoca, where she currently contributes to the RO Days Industry events.
Wei Keong Tan
SingaporeWei Keong Tan is an animation director. In his films he animates fantasy worlds in which he explores his gay identity through personal storytelling. His films have been selected at Berlinale Shorts, Toronto International Film Festival, Annecy International Animation Film Festival and Zagreb Animafest. He is also an alumnus of the Berlinale Talents and SFFILM. His films have achieved recognition on numerous occasions at the Singapore International Film Festival, including the Best Singapore Short Film Award, Special Mention and Special Achievement Award. He was awarded the Young Artist Award by the National Arts Council of Singapore in 2019. He is currently developing his first feature film.
Croatian Competition Jury
Nino Kovačić
CroatiaNino Kovačić is a film professional with many years of experience in film and media projects. As a programme and production associate at film festivals, he has worked on film selection, programme coordination, and event production at Animafest, ZagrebDox, Zagreb Film Festival, 25fps, DHF, and others in Croatia, as well as festivals such as GoShort, Kaboom, Cinekid, and IFFR in the Netherlands. He is a member of the Croatian Film Critics’ Association and FIPRESCI, and has served on around twenty international festival juries. He writes film criticism and articles for relevant film and cultural media, publishing in both professional journals and online platforms. As a film educator, he has organised and mentored numerous workshops in film analysis for children and young people, as well as for students and older audiences. Since 2020, he has also been working as an external expert for film co-productions within the MEDIA programme of the European Commission (EACEA).
Tena Trstenjak
CroatiaTena Trstenjak was born in Croatia. After studying Comparative Literature and German Language and Culture, she began working in the audiovisual sector, focusing on short films and alternative cinema. Since 2020, she has been working as a film selector, programmer, and producer within the Croatian non-profit organization 25 FPS, the Association for Audiovisual Research, whose main project is the 25 FPS Festival, an international film festival dedicated to experimental, innovative, and artistically driven cinema. She has produced several short films and continuously develops audiovisual projects, curates programmes, and organizes workshops. She is a member of the Zagreb Film Club (Kinoklub Zagreb).
Miro Frakić
CroatiaMiro Frakić is a film critic, translator, and university lecturer. He holds degrees in English and Scandinavian Studies and has received scholarships for study stays in Iceland and Sweden. He worked as a programme assistant at the Split International Festival of New Film, and as web editor and social media manager for the Subversive Festival, 25 FPS Festival, and Dokukino KIC. In 2019, he received the Vladimir Vuković Award for Best Young Critic from the Croatian Society of Film Critics, where he now serves as a member of the Executive Board. At the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences in Zagreb, he works at the Department of Scandinavian Studies, where he lectures on Swedish and broader Scandinavian cinema, with a particular focus on youth film, queer cinema, and horror. His texts have been published in Filmonaut, Hrvatski filmski ljetopis, Zona filma of the Croatian Society of Film Critics, and other media outlets. He has served on juries at Cherry Pop, the 25 FPS Festival, and the Screening Room of Kinoklub Zagreb. He translated P. Adams Sitney’s book Visionary Film for the Association 25 FPS, which is scheduled for publication this year.
Student Competition Jury
Čejen Černić Čanak
CroatiaČejen Černić Čanak graduated in Film and TV Direction from the Academy of Dramatic Art in Zagreb. She has directed numerous short fiction and documentary films, as well as one animated short. She made her feature film debut in 2017 with The Mystery of Green Hill (Uzbuna na Zelenom Vrhu). In 2025, her second feature film, Sandbag Dam (Zečji nasip), had its world premiere at the 75th Berlin International Film Festival (Berlinale). The film has since been screened at over 70 festivals worldwide and sold to multiple territories. She is currently developing her third feature-length film and a short fiction film. She also works as an assistant director.
Dinko Božanić
CroatiaDinko Božanić is a Croatian director and screenwriter, born in 1975 in Novi Sad. He completed his primary education in Komiža on the island of Vis, attended high school in Split, and earned his film degree in Bologna (DAMS) and multimedia in Rome (RomaTre). Since 2007, he has been working in the Film and Video department at the Academy of Arts, University of Split, mentoring around 40 short films each year, occasionally directing his own. His latest short film "Tango Siesta" has been showcased at 47 film festivals across all six continents, winning 11 awards and being selected for the Alexandria International Short Film Festival, which is the Academy Award qualifier.
Sunčana Brkulj
CroatiaSunčana Brkulj (Zadar, 1997.) is an animation filmmaker based in Zagreb, Croatia. She has directed several short films with success in notable film festivals across the world, and her practice moves past the boundaries of the animated film medium and expands to experimental collage and animated gallery installations. Using humor, magic and quiet absurdity as narrative tools while combining analogue and digital techniques, by creating small, symbolic worlds, she reflects on the state of our own. Sunčana’s filmography consists of three student films and her debut short “Butterfly” which is a part of Bonobostudio’s distribution roster. The success of these works includes two selections in the world’s largest animated film festival in Annecy, fifteen awards and special mentions and exhibits at three editions of Zagreb's Youth Salon.












