31-03-2009

Croatian fests get MEDIA support

By Goran Ivanisevic

    The World Festival of Animated Film in Zagreb (Animafest) and Motovun Film Festival will be the the first Croatian festivals receiving support from the MEDIA programme.

    This year's Animafest will be co-financed with €28,000, while Motovun Film Festival will receive €35,000 annually in this and the next three years.

    Croatia is the first EU candidate member country of MEDIA 2007. The Croatian Media Desk was founded on September 15, 2008.

    Motovun Film Festival is an annual international film festival established in 1999 and held in the mountaintop village of Motovun. The festival is dedicated to films made in countries with small cinema industries and to independent productions. The 11th edition will be held from July 27 to August 1, 2009.

    The World Festival of Animated Film in Zagreb is a festival built on the tradition of the Zagreb School of Animation and oriented towards auteur film. It is the second oldest animation film festival in Europe, founded by the City of Zagreb and the production studio Zagreb Film in 1972. In 2005, Animafest introduced the programme of animated feature film, and since then this biennale festival has turned into an annual event. The 19th edition will be held June 2 to 7, 2009.