The eighth Rab Film Festival officially opened on the evening of Saturday, 22 August, with a screening of the award-winning Spanish family drama ‘Sundays’, directed by Alauda Ruiz de Azúa.
The evening began with a cocktail reception and gathering at the City Loggia, where festival director Robert Tomić Zuber, director of the Rab Open University Katarina Ribarić, and Mayor of Rab Nikola Grgurić welcomed the guests to another edition of the festival.
The guests then made their way to the Open-Air Cinema, where the official opening ceremony took place. Welcome addresses were delivered by Robert Tomić Zuber, Nikola Grgurić and director of the Croatian Audiovisual Centre (HAVC) Christopher Peter Marcich, while actor Goran Navojec also added a humorous touch to the programme. The organisers thanked everyone involved in making the festival possible, from the festival team and collaborators to the co-organisers, partners, patrons and sponsors, whose support enables RAFF to bring films, filmmakers and audiences together on Rab year after year. In a charming touch, the festival was officially declared open by Mark Spiridonović, a young actor introduced as ‘the future of Croatian film’.
Following the ceremony, the audience watched ‘Sundays’, the story of seventeen-year-old Ainara, who faces a life-changing decision while her secular family struggles with questions of faith, relationships and her desire to become a nun. The film won five Goya Awards, including Best Film.
The first festival evening concluded at Pjaceta, where Elvis Stanić AIRes Collective performed as part of the RAFF Beat programme, providing an outstanding musical continuation to the opening night.
Until 26 August, audiences can look forward to screenings of 12 films in competition and eight films out of competition, including seven Croatian premieres. The film programme will be accompanied by conversations as part of RAFF Talk, educational activities within RAFF Generation and RAFF Junior, and RAFF Beat concert evenings. Rab once again becomes a meeting place for film, music, exploration and conversations about subjects that deserve an audience.
