The Department for Culture and Communication of the Institute for Development and International Relations organised a roundtable entitled “Small Markets, Big Stories – Film Industry in Small European Countries” on November 11, 2025, at the F22 stage of the Academy of Dramatic Arts in Zagreb. The roundtable was held as part of the CresCine project within the Industry program of the Zagreb Film Festival. The roundtable presented the key results of the research “Increasing the International Competitiveness of the Film Industry in Small European Markets” (CresCine) conducted within the framework of the Horizon Europe program (2023-2026). Participants discussed ways to increase the competitiveness of films from small countries, while special emphasis was placed on comparative insights from Croatia and Denmark. The roundtable participants were: Jakob Isak Nielsen, associate professor at Aarhus University, Denmark, Lars Bjørn Hansen, head of the Danish SF Production Office, Chris Marcich, director of the Croatian Audiovisual Center (HAVC), Martina Petrović, head of the DKE – MEDIA Office of Croatia, while the event was moderated by Jaka Primorac, scientific advisor from the Department of Culture and Communications of the Institute for Development and International Relations.
You can read the full report from the roundtable here.
The roundtable was attended by over 60 participants from the film sector and academia from Croatia and broader Europe. The roundtable was organised in partnership with the Zagreb Film Festival and the Academy of Dramatic Arts in Zagreb, and was part of the ZFF Industry program, which serves as a platform for education and networking of film professionals in the region.
Photos from the event are available below. Photos: Zoe Šarlija (source: ZFF).
