The Swedish director, whose films have won not only the global film awards, but also the audience’s hearts, will hold a series of masterclasses on Lopud in Croatia

After the first two editions of the Ponta Lopud Festival which takes place on island of Lopud, nearby Dubrovnik, in Croatia, during which some of the greatest film professionals in the world, including Joel Coen, Frances McDormand and Pawel Pawlikowski, shared their knowledge and experience with the masterclass participants, the baton of a master will be passed to the multiple award-winning Swedish director Ruben Östlund. 

„For me filmmaking is social and that’s the biggest reason why I enjoy doing it. The intimate atmosphere of Ponta Lopud creates a great opportunity to meet colleagues and friends, talk about work and get inspiration. I’m really looking forward to it!”, said Ruben Östlund.

In 2022, the director of "Triangle of Sadness," a satire that "exposes roles and classes and metaphorically depicts the end of Western civilization," won the Palme d'Or at Cannes. In addition, the film won four major prizes at the European Film Awards: Best European film, Best director, Best actor, and Best screenplay. The awards by the film profession representatives did not stop there, and Östlund's "Triangle of Sadness" was nominated for an Oscar in the categories of Best film, Best director, and Best original screenplay. Co-founder of the Ponta Lopud Festival, Mirsad Purivatra from Sarajevo’s Obala Art Centar is the associate producer of this film.

“I'm happy to announce that Ruben Östlund, one of the greatest directors today, will be the guest of the Ponta Lopud Festival. The Sarajevo Film Festival has followed his career since the beginning, and we have loved not only his works but also the get-togethers and discussions we had during his visits to Sarajevo. Our mutual respect and love for the film resulted in our work together, and as a result, Obala Art Centar was one of the producers of his most recent, multi-award-winning movie, Triangle of Sadness. In the laid-back and intimate atmosphere of the Ponta Lopud Festival, Ruben will be sharing his wealth of knowledge and expertise with new regional authors, and we are looking forward to that very much.” said Mirsad Purivatra.

Long sequences are a defining feature of Östlund's work, which he structured and perfected while attending the University of Gothenburg. It was there that he also met Erik Hemmendorff, with whom he later co-founded the Plattform Produktion company.

Starting with his second feature, "Involuntary" (2008), which debuted in the Un Certain Regard programme, all of Östlund's subsequent films have had their world premieres at Cannes, making this gifted director a member of a select, elite group of filmmakers who have won awards twice at this prestigious festival.

Östlund was also awarded the Golden Bear in Berlin for his short film "Incident at the Bank". This film provided him with the chance to experiment with other techniques and styles, which became even more visible in his third feature, "Play," which had its world premiere in Cannes as part of the Directors' Fortnight programme and for which he later won the Nordic Prize, the most prestigious Scandinavian cinema award. In addition to receiving nominations for the prestigious Golden Globe and the Oscar, his fourth feature film, "Force Majeure," had its world debut in Cannes' Un Certain Regard programme and won the Jury Prize. His fifth movie, "The Square" from 2017, won Östlund not only the Palme d'Or at Cannes, but also got nominations for the Golden Globe and the Oscar.

In addition to winning the Palme d'Or, his most recent film "Triangle of Sadness" opened the 28th Sarajevo Film Festival, and Ruben Östlund was awarded the Honorary Heart of Sarajevo in recognition of his outstanding contribution to film art.

The third edition of the Ponta Lopud Festival takes place on 20-24 June 2023 on a beautiful island of Lopud, nearby Dubrovnik, in Croatia. The Festival is a creative hub that organizes invite-only masterclasses and lectures by the greatest filmmakers working today, specifically tailored for directors, actors and cinematographers of the new generation in Southeast Europe. In a relaxing and friendly island atmosphere, the Festival creates opportunities for regional rising stars to meet with top film professionals and talk about film, visual art and the art of living that has been practiced in the region for centuries. The founders of the Ponta Lopud Festival are Mirsad Purivatra, former director and founder of the Sarajevo Film Festival and Tilda Grossel Bogdanovic from island Lopud.

The Ponta Lopud Festival will once again invite around twenty filmmakers from the region – directors, actors and cinematographers who are on the verge of launching their careers internationally.

All news and information about the Ponta Lopud Festival are available on the Festival official website www.pontalopud.hr and the Festival social media.