After five days of films, talks, learning, music and socialising, the 8th Rab Film Festival came to a close on Wednesday, 26 August. Truth – as this year’s festival motto reminds us – once again found its audience, while the closing night at the Rab Open-Air Cinema brought the announcement of the winning films, followed by the premiere of a film made by the festival’s youngest filmmakers.
The closing ceremony was opened by festival director Robert Tomić Zuber. The RAFF Generation programme was then presented, with special recognition given to its participants – students from several Croatian universities and higher education institutions who also volunteered at the Festival – as well as RAFF Residency, together with the mentors and participants involved in the programme. This was followed by the premiere of ‘Actor on Vacation’, made by eleven participants in the RAFF Junior programme. On the film set, they took on every role, from directing and camera work to sound, lighting and acting, and were joined by Goran Grgić, who, fittingly, plays an actor on vacation. After the screening, the young filmmakers and their mentors were introduced to the audience, received certificates for their work and were greeted with enthusiastic applause.
The awards ceremony followed. The winning films were selected by a professional jury consisting of director Vinko Brešan, FIPADOC director Anne Georget and actor Luka Peroš. They took to the stage to announce and explain their decisions.
BEST FEATURE FILM: ‘FEELS LIKE HOME’
Gábor Holtai’s film was awarded for its exceptional blend of thriller atmosphere, acting and unexpected humour, offering an unsettling portrayal of an authoritarian system. The Hungarian psychological thriller follows Rita, who is abducted by a family convinced that she is their long-lost relative. To survive, she must accept the identity imposed on her and find a way out of an increasingly dangerous nightmare.
BEST DOCUMENTARY FILM: ‘EVERYBODY TO KENMURE STREET’
The jury singled out Felipe Bustos Sierra’s documentary for its emotional power and its message that solidarity and community can overcome injustice. The film follows events in Glasgow in May 2021, when hundreds of residents take to Kenmure Street to prevent the deportation of their neighbours.
AUDIENCE AWARD: ‘THE TIGERS’
The audience voted ‘The Tigers’ the best film, a Spanish-French underwater thriller directed by Alberto Rodríguez. It follows siblings Antonio and Estrella, whose uncertain future becomes even more complicated when they discover a hidden stash of cocaine in the hull of an oil tanker.
The directors of the award-winning films greeted the large audience at the Rab Open-Air Cinema in recorded video messages and thanked them for the awards. Festival director Robert Tomić Zuber was then joined on stage by Katarina Ribarić, director of the Rab Open University, and Nikola Grgurić, Mayor of Rab, who greeted the audience and, together with the RAFF director, officially declared the eighth edition of the Festival closed. Robert Tomić Zuber thanked the jury, co-organisers, guests, partners, sponsors and everyone involved in creating the Festival, after which ‘Minotaur’, directed by Andrey Zvyagintsev, was screened.
A huge thank you to the audience, guests, filmmakers, volunteers, partners and sponsors – everyone who helped make the 8th RAFF possible through their work, support and presence. See you next year on Rab!
