by croatiaweek
September 5, 2025
in
Fiume o morte! (Photo: Restart)
ZAGREB, 5 September 2025 – The Croatian Society of Film Workers has announced that Igor Bezinović’s documentary Fiume o morte! will represent Croatia in the race for the Best International Feature Film at the 98th Academy Awards.
The decision, made by the selection committee on 4 September, marks a historic first: Fiume o morte! is the first documentary in Croatia’s history to be chosen as the nation’s Oscar contender.
Alongside the Oscar entry, the Croatian Society of Film Workers also recently selected the film as Croatia’s submission for Spain’s prestigious Goya Awards in the Best European Film category.
Fiume o morte! has already made history in Croatian cinemas. Released earlier this summer, it became the most-watched Croatian documentary since independence, drawing over 35,000 viewers.
In Rijeka’s Art-kino, it quickly became the most-watched film in the theatre’s history.
The film premiered at the International Film Festival Rotterdam, where it won the main festival prize and the FIPRESCI critics’ award.
(Photo: Restart)
Since then, it has been screened at 35 international festivals across the globe, from Australia and Taiwan to Mexico and New York’s MoMA.
It has collected numerous awards, including Best Documentary at festivals in Innsbruck, Podgorica and Yerevan, and six Golden Arenas at this year’s Pula Film Festival, as well as the annual Vedran Šamanović Award.
In a further boost, ICA Cinema has recently acquired rights for distribution in cinemas across the United Kingdom and Ireland.
Directed by award-winning filmmaker Igor Bezinović (A Brief Excursion, 2017), Fiume o morte! explores the 16-month occupation of Rijeka in 1919 by Italian poet, soldier, and provocateur Gabriele D’Annunzio.
Through a blend of creative storytelling and community involvement, Bezinović enlists Rijeka’s citizens to reconstruct, reinterpret and reflect upon this little-known chapter of European history.
(Photo: Restart)
Produced by Restart and led by producers Vanja Jambrović and Tibor Keser, the film is a Croatian-Slovenian-Italian co-production, with partners Nosorogi (Slovenia) and Videomante (Italy).
This year’s Croatian selection process considered six feature films. Alongside Fiume o morte!, the shortlist included Božji gnjev (Kristijan Milić), Frka (Svebor Mihael Jelić), Izgubljeni Dream Team (Jure Pavlović), Proslava (Bruno Anković), and Zečji nasip (Čejen Černić Čanak).