ZFF day one begins at noon sharp with elementary schoolchildren’s encounter with Secret Society of Souptown (Bib for Kids) at Europa cinema. At 4pm, the same screen will show the feelgood drama from the PLUS section, which won the Audience Award in Toronto. With heartwarming characters and a touching story, Rock My Heart by Hanno Olderdissen conveys a message of persistence and perseverance which never grows old.

In the main competition, with the film Just like My Son (Europa cinema, 6.30pm) we pay homage to the international success of our talented actress Tihana Lazović. Based on real events, the film follows two brothers residing in Italy after fleeing Afghanistan, whose world turns upside down when they find out that their mother is still alive. Next to Tihana, director Costanza Quatriglio will be joining the audience for a Q&A session after the screening. The same day, the main competition screens the American drama Wildlife (Europa cinema, 9pm), the directorial debut of actor Paul Dano, famous for his outstanding renditions (Little Miss Sunshine, There Will Be Blood, Okja), starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Carey Mulligan (Shame, The Great Gatsby).

Tuškanac cinema launches ZFF’s popular off programme. The Great 5 at 5pm is screening the French representative Double Lives. In a comedy about a successful Parisian publisher Alain and his wife, a famous stage actress Selena (Juliette Binoche), the director Olivier Assayas questions the effects of digital communication on art and culture. In Together Again at 7.30pm we will be watching Tel Aviv Burns by Sameh Zoabi, about a nice Palestinian soap opera trainee with a humorous and brave outlook on the divided country. The lead actor Kais Nashif won an award in Venice for this role.

The Golden Pram run in short competition begins at Tuškanac at 10pm. In Checkers, the Croatian short film competition, we will be watching Soviet Space Dogs by Nikica Zdunić, Peloid by Bojan Stijović, White Room by Mladen Stanić and Moths by Tomislav Đurinec, and in the international program the Polish film Tremors by Dawid Bodzak, the Clermont-Ferrand Grand Prix winner.

Local Hero (1983) by Bill Forsyth, a funny and touching tale about an encounter of a Scottish town with a corporate oil giant, is the first in a series of titles in the line-up Tycoons: Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow, scheduled at 6.30pm at F22, and Miloš Forman’s famous debut Black Peter at the same location at 9pm marks the start of My First Film: Czech Republic, featuring debut films by famous Czech filmmakers, selected by Nenad Polimac. At 8pm, Muller Hall will be showing the Cinema at the Cinema program, including one Croatian title, Islands of Forgotten Cinemas by Ivan Ramljak, a poetic documentary about the lost culture of movie-going in small town on Croatian islands during the second half of the 20^th century.

In a special section Festivals in the Spotlight (Muller Hall, 6.30pm), we will be showing a selection of Bosnian and Herzegovinian short films from this year’s Sarajevo Film Festival.