A petty criminal from Sweden, a Danish gold digger, a British journalist and an ISIS fighter, Russian rock stars and a Colombian mercenary... all of them will come to life on the big screen during this year’s, 21st Motovun Film Festival, which will be held on July 24-28 in the town of Motovun in northern Istria.

“This will be the year of fantastic guests: Ruben Östlund, one of the most esteemed contemporary European directors, is coming from Sweden. His film, The Square, nominated for an Academy Award for best foreign film this year, also won him a Palme d’Or in Cannes,” said the festival’s director, Igor Mirkovic, during the presentation of the festival’s 21st edition in Zagreb on Tuesday.

The Motovun Film Festival is dedicated to small, independent films, and aims to celebrate diversity and promote unconventional, off-beat artists. Film fanatics from all over the world come to this small medieval Istrian town, making the film festival one of the most popular in Croatia.

“We are especially looking forward to the Berlin – Partner City programme, because many exceptionally creative visual artists and film-makers will come from Berlin, as well as three excellent DJs who will bring the atmosphere of Berlin nightclubs to Motovun,” Mirkovic said.

Some 20 films from Berlin authors will be shown, portraying the soul of the German capital from the divisions of the past to its modern-day multiculturalism.

Works from great authors will be shown this year, such as the US director Debra Granik (Leave no Trace), and Nuri Bilge Ceylan (The Wild Pear Tree) from Turkey, but also the latest work by the Russian Kiril Serebrennikov (Leto), a sharp critic of the Putin’s regime.

“Another film to single out is certainly Hannah by Andrea Pallaoro, with the amazing Charlotte Rampling, who won Best Actress at the Venice Film Festival for the part,” said Milka Zajovic, one of the festival’s selectors.

Aside from famous names and titles, it is also important to celebrate little-known gems, she added.

“This year, this is the Panic Attack, a tragedy-meets-comedy debut by Polish director Pawel Maslona,” she said.

Three Croatian films will be shown as part of the festival. The Doc Alliance-winning documentary Srbenka by Nebojsa Slijepcevic, which follows the preparations for Aleksandra Zec, a play by the controversial Croatian theatre director Oliver Frljic. Chris the Swiss by the Swiss director Anja Kofmel also deals with a taboo topic – the death of Kofmel’s cousin in the 1991-95 war in Croatia.

Finally, as a change from the ghosts of the past, there is Aleksi, a debut by Barbara Vekaric, which, in a Mediterranean summer idylle, follows a young girl who seemingly has it all – a large house, wealthy parents and a winery, but who still does not know who she is or what she wants in life.

The region’s acting legends, Bosnia’s Mustafa Nadarevic and Croatia’s Rade Serbedzija, will be the festival’s guests of honour.

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