7th STIFF starts on Thursday – Four days of short films from around the globe

The 7th edition of Student International Film Festival (STIFF) will take place from 26th to 29th November in Art-kino in Rijeka.

Despite the pandemic, the organizers of the festival have decided to hold the festival on-site, in the cinema as planned, in order to provide their audience with a unique experience of watching films on the big screen. The event will, of course, take place in compliance with all preventive measures. This year, STIFF will be also held online, on the festival’s web page, however, the fastest among us who manage to book their free tickets will have the opportunity to experience a part of the festival’s atmosphere, this time in a somewhat more modest edition.

This year’s repertoire gathers 40 films from 20 countries that will compete for best fiction, animated and documentary film, as well as the audience choice award. The Festival will open at 6 p.m. with the program Adieu, whose film story we will be introduced to by an excellent Student Oscars finalist, The Stamp, directed by Lovro Mrđen. A melancholic work by Elsa Rosengren, which won 3rd place for best short film at Cannes Film Festival, I Want to Return Return Return, will follow. At the end of the first block, we will see a fantastic animation Zorg II, directed by Auden Lincoln Vogel, that will launch us into a world of creativity without limits. The Program Wanderers will begin at 8 p.m. and bring equally impressive works: Sherbet by a young, award-winning director Nikola Stojanović, an animated documentary about nomad women, Fata Morgana (Daniella Bokor, Leanna Berkovitcz), and a documentary For Your Sake (Ronja Hemm) that deals with generational shifts in Nepal.

After the main course, STIFF’s dessert will be served: a side program Sound Occupations – also a part of the official cultural and artistic program of Rijeka 2020 – European Capital of Culture. Sound Occupations opens at 8 p.m. at Gallery SKC with a multimedia exhibition gathering over 30 international audio-visual artists. A rich side program dedicated to sound will occupy radio waves and various locations in the city during all four days of the festival. 

Guests from the region 

At the festival we will meet some of this year’s participants of regional film programs who will introduce their work to the audience: Karmen Obrdalj (Why is Mum Always Crying) is scheduled for Friday, and Tomislav Šoban ( Fragile), Filip Lončarić (Effortless), and Sunčana Brkulj (I’m Not Feeling Very Well) will all be showcased on Saturday. 

We will also be joined by some of this year’s members of the jury: one of our most interesting documentarists, an independent curator and film critic Ivan Ramljak, Nikica Zdunić, one of the most prominent young directors in Croatia; Ivan Grgur, a young director whose first film, Probably Dead won the hearts of STIFF’s festival audience, and Antonia Veljačić, an independent animator and educator.  Other members of the jury are French and Algerian director Azedine Kasri, double STIFF’s award winner, Czech animator Martin Smatana, and film-loving students Ervin Pavleković, Mihovil Burić, and Karla Drašković.

All interested in attending the festival on-site are recommended to book their tickets via Art-kino’s e-mail: [email protected] or by phone 051/323-261. Entrance to all programs is free!

The online audience can attend the festival at https://studentfilmfestival.eu/hr/ and join with their vote for the audience choice award. 

Student International Film Festival (STIFF) was first organized in 2014 by Filmaktiv Association and Student Cultural Centre in Rijeka (SKC) with the goal of presenting the best of the recent world production of student and debutant film. 

The festival is organized in partnership with Art-kino Croatia and Radio Roža, and is co-funded by the University of Rijeka, Croatian Audiovisual Centre (HAVC), Croatian Film Directors Association (DHFR), Croatian Capital of Culture Rijeka 2020, and Primorje-Gorski Kotar County.