The French Connection The French Connection

Wednesday, 04. 03. 2026 / 16:30 / Small Hall

On 12 September 1919, a troop of some three hundred soldiers under the leadership of the flamboyant war-loving Italian poet Gabriele D’Annunzio swooped into the Northern-Adriatic port town of Fiume, now Rijeka, wanting to annex the city to Italy. Over the course of the next 16 months, during what is regarded as one of the most bizarre militant sieges of all time his official photography team captured over 10,000 images. A century later, Igor Bezinović orchestrates a direct-action history lesson focused on the siege and its modern-day implications.

Wednesday, 04. 03. 2026 / 17:20 / Main Hall

Kleber Mendonça Filho (Aquarius) vividly conjures the colours, smells and sounds of 1970s Brazil – a time “when the walls had ears and any movement could be suspicious”. The Secret Agent is an unpredictable and witty political thriller, but above all, a loving portrait of a place and its people. Winner of Best Director and Best Actor at Cannes, as well as Best Actor (Drama) and Best Non-English Language Film at the Golden Globe Awards.

Wednesday, 04. 03. 2026 / 20:30 / Main Hall

A slowly smouldering moral thriller by Jafar Panahi, inspired by the director’s own experience of imprisonment. The film twists and turns as it probes difficult questions of revenge, trauma and forgiveness, all the while sustaining a vein of bitter, unsettling humour.
Winner of the Palme d’Or at Cannes.