Belgian football thriller opens Rab Film Festival, 12 films compete

The 8th Rab Film Festival (RAFF), themed "Truth Needs an Audience," will take place from August 22 to 26. This year's festival will open with the Belgian football thriller "Heysel 85," setting the tone for a competition program featuring 12 films, seven of which are Croatian premieres.

Belgium is the festival's partner country for 2026, and RAFF will showcase films that have previously screened at prestigious festivals like Cannes, Berlin, Venice, and Pula. The selected films cover a diverse range of global stories and themes.

Notable entries include "Sundays" by Alauda Ruiz de Azúa, exploring faith; "Mariinka," a war story from Pieter-Jan De Pue; and "Zlatan's Leg" by Nils Toftenow, delving into true crime in football. The documentary "Vjesnik – The Last Edition" by Dražen Klarić chronicles the end of a journalistic era, while "Three Weeks Later" by Miroslav Terezić addresses escalating peer violence.

Other films include "Like Home" by Gábor Holtai, a thriller about life-stealing; "War Birds" by Janay Boulos & Abd Alkader Habak, about love in immigrant stories; "Yugo Goes to America," a docu-comedy about a notorious car; "Koke" by Igor Jelinović, focusing on families and inheritance; and "Amazomania" by Nathan Grossman, examining colonial legacies. The program also features "The Avalanche Man," a musical biography, and "Tigers," a documentary about the underwater world.

The festival's jury comprises director Vinko Brešan, FIPADOC festival director Anne Georget, and actor Luka Peroš. Accompanying programs include RAFF Talk, featuring discussions on journalism and acting with prominent figures, and RAFF Generation, an educational program for students. For younger audiences, RAFF Junior will screen "Pixie" and "Crystal Planet." The music program will feature Elvis Stanić Aires Collectiv.