The sixth Ponta Lopud Film Festival, taking place from 25 to 28 June, once again gathers an exceptional group of filmmakers and industry professionals whose careers have been defined by the world’s most prestigious awards and films that have left a lasting mark on contemporary cinema. Alongside film screenings, a concert dedicated to Ennio Morricone, and the Nomadia exhibition, the festival’s rich educational programme remains at its core. Selected participants – emerging directors, producers, actors, and cinematographers – will have the opportunity to learn directly from renowned artists through masterclasses, workshops, and discussions.

Among this year’s film masters is American director, screenwriter, and producer Reinaldo Marcus Green, who will personally present his musical biopic Bob Marley: One Love to the Lopud audience. Green is best known as the director of King Richard, which received six Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture, and earned Will Smith the Academy Award for Best Actor. He also directed HBO’s We Own This City and Netflix’s Top Boy, and is currently developing a biographical film about Tiger Woods, produced by Barack and Michelle Obama.

Belgian director Lukas Dhont is one of the most distinctive voices in contemporary European auteur cinema. His debut feature Girl won the Caméra d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival in 2018, while his second feature, Close, which will be screened on Lopud with an introduction by the director himself, premiered in the Official Competition at Cannes, where it won the Grand Prix and later received an Academy Award nomination. Dhont recently premiered his third feature, Coward, at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, where it received two awards – Best Actor Award and the Positive Cinema Award.

The group of masters is further enriched by renowned British film critic, journalist, and author Mark Kermode, one of the most influential voices in international film criticism; actor, director, and producer Dragan Bjelogrlić; French actor and screenwriter Alexis Manenti, co-writer and one of the lead actors of the Cannes-acclaimed Les Misérables; Academy Award-winning producer Peter Spears (Nomadland, Call Me by Your Name); and director Antoneta Alamat Kusijanović, whose feature debut Murina won the Caméra d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival.

The festival’s Executive Producer, Bruno Mustić, is one of Croatia’s most prominent young producers. At the age of just nineteen, he founded the Brač Film Festival and is widely known as the producer of the acclaimed HRT series Sram, the Croatian adaptation of the Norwegian series Skam, which redefined television content for young audiences and resonated with viewers of all generations through its authentic exploration of identity, relationships, and mental health.

Joining the Festival’s Artistic and Programme Council this year are several distinguished figures, including music editor and artistic advisor Suzana Perić, director and screenwriter Nebojša Slijepčević, who in 2024 brought Croatia its first Palme d’Or at Cannes and an Academy Award nomination in the short film category for The Man Who Could Not Remain Silent, and Vanja Jambrović, European Film Award-winning producer of the acclaimed docufiction feature Fiume o morte!.

“This year’s Ponta Lopud Film Festival is particularly significant because it introduces intensive practical work for the first time. The creative teams behind two feature films currently in development will be joining us on Lopud – director David Gašo with History of Illness and director Katarina Koljević with The Long Weekend. Alongside the directors, their key collaborators – producers, cinematographers, editors, and actors – will also take part. Throughout the festival, these projects will serve as a platform for direct work with distinguished mentors and lecturers,” said Mustić.

Tickets for the film screenings are available through the Entrio ticketing platform, while full programme details and additional festival information can be found at pontalopud.hr and on the social media channels of the Ponta Lopud Creative Platform.

The Ponta Lopud Creative Platform presents three summer cultural programmes in 2026 and warmly welcomes everyone with a passion for the arts, particularly film, music, and literature. The Ponta Lopud Film Festival, the first of the three events, will take place from 25 to 28 June and will be dedicated to the art of cinema. The second event, the popular Ponta Lopud Jazz Festival, will bring music lovers to the island from 27 to 29 August, while Ponta Lopud Book Bridge, taking place from 17 to 19 September, will transform Lopud into a literary retreat and complete the season’s cultural programme.