RAFF on Rab Opens with "Heysel 85," 12 Films in Competition
The eighth edition of the Rab Film Festival brings seven Croatian premieres, a rich side program, and emphasizes the importance of truth in journalism and art.
The eighth edition of the Rab Film Festival brings seven Croatian premieres, a rich side program, and emphasizes the importance of truth in journalism and art.
The eighth edition of the Rab Film Festival (RAFF) will take place from August 22 to 26, 2026, under the motto "Truth Needs an Audience." The festival will be ceremoniously opened by the Belgian football thriller "Heysel 85," and the main competition program will feature a total of 12 films, including as many as seven Croatian premieres, the organizers announced on Thursday, August 6, 2026.
This year's partner country is Belgium, and RAFF will present films previously shown at prestigious world festivals in Cannes, Berlin, Venice, and Pula. The program offers a wide range of stories from around the globe.
The competition program encompasses diverse themes and genres. Among the films to be screened are "Sundays" by director Alauda Ruiz de Azúa, which questions our relationship with faith, and "Mariinka" by director Pieter-Jan De Pue, a war story that will have its Croatian premiere on Rab. True crime stories from the world of football are explored in the film "Zlatan's Nose" by director Nils Toftenow.
Croatian cinema is represented by the documentary "Vjesnik, The Last Edition" by Dražen Klarić, which chronicles the end of a journalistic era, and "Three Weeks Later" by Miroslav Terezić, which touches on increasingly intense peer violence. Also premiering is "Yugo Goes to America," a docu-comedy by Filip Grujić and Aleksa Borković about a car they described as "the worst possible car ever."
Audiences will also be able to see the thriller "Home Sweet Home" by Gábor Holtai, the story "War Birds" by directors Janay Boulos and Abd Alkader Habak about loves in immigrant communities, the drama "Koke" by Igor Jelinović about families and inheritance, and "Amazomania" by Nathan Grossman, which deals with colonial legacy. The program is rounded out by the musical biography "Avalanche Man" by Slobodanka Radun, the underwater documentary "Tigers" by Alberto Rodríguez, the film "Minotaur" by Andrei Zvyagintsev, and the documentary "What Needs to Be Done" by Srđan Kovačević about union struggle.
The best films will be decided by a three-member jury consisting of director Vinko Brešan, director of the French festival FIPADOC Anne Georget, and actor Luka Peroš. The festival also offers a rich side program, including RAFF Talk, a segment dedicated to journalism in the artistic and acting vocation. Numerous well-known names will participate in the discussions, such as Dražen Klarić, Silvana Menđušić, Zoran Kesić, Goran Navojec, Luka Peroš, Tena Perišin, Marko Stričević, and Igor Mirković, with journalist Elizabeta Gojan moderating.
The educational program for students, RAFF Generation, will host journalist Barbara Štrbac, Đelo Hadžiselimović, Danish critic Tue Steen Müller, and Belgian producer Thierry Detaille. They are also mentors of the program for directors and producers, RAFF Residency, conducted in collaboration with the ZagrebDox festival. For the youngest, the RAFF Junior program brings two children's films: the live-action "Pixie" and the animated "Crystal Planet."
The musical part of the festival on Festival Square Pjaceta will be complemented by a performance by Elvis Stanić Aires Collectiva. All programs, both film and music, are free for all visitors. The festival is jointly organized by the City of Rab and the Rab Open University, and is held with the support of the Primorje-Gorski Kotar County, the Kvarner Tourist Board, and other partners and sponsors.
