Overview
The Cinehill Motovun Film Festival is a boutique open-air festival held annually in the last week of July in the Gorski Kotar mountain region of Croatia. The 28th edition runs July 21 to 26, 2026. The festival screens more than 100 films from across Europe and the world, with a focus on independent, alternative, and arthouse cinema.
The festival was known as the Motovun Film Festival from its founding in 1999 until 2023, when it relocated from the medieval hilltop village of Motovun in Istria to the Gorski Kotar mountain region. In 2024, the festival took place entirely in Petehovac. In 2025, it moved to Fuzine, a small town in Gorski Kotar. The festival is now branded as Cinehill.
The relocation was driven by the changing character of Motovun itself. Festival director Igor Mirkovic explained that the local community had reoriented toward luxury tourism, leaving the festival without support and physical venues. The festival maintains its original programming identity: independent and edgy cinema, a strongly defined anti-authoritarian political stance, open-air screenings, communal camping, and a relaxed atmosphere where filmmakers and audiences share the same space.
Submission Details
Submissions are accepted through FilmFreeway. The submission deadline for the 28th edition (2026) is May 10, 2026.
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Submission Platform | FilmFreeway |
| Deadline | May 10, 2026 |
| Open Submission Category | Cinehill Shorts (short films up to 20 minutes) |
| Main Program | Curated (not open submission) |
| Eligibility Window | Films produced on or after January 1, 2025 |
| Premiere Requirement | Croatian premiere required |
| Subtitle Requirement | English subtitles for non-English films |
| Website | cinehill.eu |
Cinehill Shorts is the open submission category. The festival accepts only short films up to 20 minutes in length. Feature and medium-length films are not accepted through open submission. The main program is curated through relationships with sales agents, distributors, and filmmakers.
Eligibility Requirements (Cinehill Shorts):
- Open to all genres: fiction, documentary, animation, and experimental film
- Films must be up to 20 minutes in length
- Films must have been produced on or after January 1, 2025
- Croatian premiere is required
- Submissions must be made via FilmFreeway
Key Sections
- Main Program - international arthouse and independent features competing for the Propeller Cinehill award
- Cinehill Shorts - short films up to 20 minutes, competing for the Propeller of Cinehill for Best Short Film (European Film Award-qualifying)
- Special Screenings - cult films, retrospectives, and special events
- Corto Montanaro - competition for the best Croatian short film
- Partner Country Program - annual focus on a guest country (2025: Switzerland)
- Accompanying Program - educational workshops, mountain walks, lectures, concerts, and a festival camp
Past Winners
The Propeller Cinehill (formerly Propeller of Motovun) is the festival's main award, given by an international jury to the best film in the main program.
Recent Propeller winners:
- 2026: Flies / Moscas (dir. Fernando Eimbcke, Mexico) - Berlinale Competition world premiere
- 2025: The Love That Remains (dir. Hlynur Palmason, Iceland/Denmark/Sweden/France) - Cannes premiere
- 2024: When the Light Breaks (dir. Runar Runarsson, Iceland/Netherlands/Croatia/France) - Cannes Un Certain Regard opening film
Historical Propeller winners of note:
- 2000: Billy Elliot (dir. Stephen Daldry, UK) - one of the first awards the film won, before 13 BAFTA nominations and 3 Oscar nominations
- 2005: The Death of Mr. Lazarescu (dir. Cristi Puiu, Romania)
- 2008: Silent Light (dir. Carlos Reygadas, Mexico)
- 2009: Fish Tank (dir. Andrea Arnold, UK)
- 2011: Bullhead (dir. Michael R. Roskam, Belgium) - later nominated for Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film
- 2017: Western (dir. Valeska Grisebach, Germany)
The 2026 edition also awarded a Maverick Award to Jafar Panahi, who won the 2025 Palme d'Or at Cannes.
Notable Alumni Films and Where They Ended Up
The Motovun/Cinehill Propeller has a history of recognizing films before they achieve wider international success.
Billy Elliot (2000 Propeller winner) was largely unknown when it won at Motovun. The award was one of the first the film received. It went on to earn 13 BAFTA nominations (winning two) and 3 Academy Award nominations. Director Stephen Daldry later returned to the festival as a guest, and the festival named a venue "Cinema Billy" in honor of the film.
Bullhead (2011 Propeller winner) by Michaël R. Roskam later received an Academy Award nomination for Best Foreign Language Film, representing Belgium. The film launched the international career of actor Matthias Schoenaerts.
Flies / Moscas (2026 Propeller winner) by Fernando Eimbcke world premiered at the Berlinale Competition in February 2026. Mubi acquired Latin American distribution rights.
The Love That Remains (2025 Propeller winner) by Hlynur Palmason premiered at Cannes. Janus Films set a January 30, 2026 US release date. Curzon distributed the film in the UK and Ireland.
Submission Tips Specific to This Festival
Cinehill Shorts is the only open submission category. The festival accepts short films up to 20 minutes, produced on or after January 1, 2025, with a Croatian premiere requirement. If your short film has already screened in Croatia, it is not eligible.
The Cinehill Shorts winner qualifies for consideration for the European Film Award. This places Cinehill among a select group of European festivals whose short film winners enter the European Film Academy's consideration process.
The main program is curated, not open to submissions. The programming team selects features through relationships with sales agents, distributors, and filmmakers. If your feature film has premiered at a major European festival (Cannes, Berlin, Venice, Locarno, Rotterdam), the programming team may invite it directly. Filmmakers can also send screening links to the festival email at office@motovunfilmfestival.com.
The festival's curatorial taste favors independent, alternative, and edgy cinema from small national cinemas. The Croatian premiere requirement means filmmakers should schedule Cinehill before any other Croatian festival engagement.
Industry Reputation Notes
Cinehill occupies a specific niche in the European festival landscape as a boutique, audience-focused festival with no formal market. Its closest peers are the Sarajevo Film Festival and the Pula Film Festival.
Compared to Sarajevo, which has grown into a major regional industry hub with a business forum and CineLink market, Cinehill is deliberately small and anti-industry. Sarajevo attracts sales agents, distributors, and co-production financiers. Cinehill attracts filmmakers, film critics, and audiences who share a communal outdoor experience.
Compared to Pula, which is Croatia's other major international festival and screens in a Roman amphitheater, Cinehill has a more defined curatorial focus on independent and alternative cinema. Cinehill's anti-authoritarian political stance and commitment to small national cinemas separate it from Pula's more conventional programming.
The festival does not host a formal film market. The focus is on the audience experience of watching adventurous films in a communal outdoor setting. The FIPRESCI Prize and the European Film Award qualifying status for Cinehill Shorts add critical credibility.
Awards / Accreditation
- Propeller Cinehill - main festival award, given by an international jury to the best film in the main program
- Propeller of Cinehill for Best Short Film - EUR 2,000 prize and European Film Award qualification
- Corto Montanaro - best Croatian short film; offers purchase of rights for limited theatrical release for EUR 1,000
- FIPRESCI Prize - awarded by international film critics
- Maverick Award - for filmmakers who expand the boundaries of cinematic expression
- Audience Award - voted by festival attendees
The winner of the Cinehill Shorts competition qualifies for consideration for the European Film Award. Cinehill is not FIAPF-accredited and does not hold Academy Award qualifying status for its main program.
Watch
What Filmmakers Should Know
Cinehill's open submission category is Cinehill Shorts only. Feature films are curated through programming team relationships with sales agents and distributors. If your feature has premiered at a major European festival, send a screening link to office@motovunfilmfestival.com for consideration.
The key trade-off: Cinehill offers a communal audience experience and European Film Award qualifying status for short films, but no industry market or acquisition infrastructure. The festival takes place outdoors in the forests of Gorski Kotar with open-air screenings and camping. Filmmakers, programmers, and audiences share the same physical space throughout the festival. This creates networking opportunities that formal markets cannot replicate, but without structured deal-making.
The Croatian premiere requirement for Cinehill Shorts means you should schedule Cinehill before any other Croatian festival. The May 10 deadline aligns with the summer European festival circuit.
Festival History
The Motovun Film Festival was founded in 1999 by film critic and programmer Rajko Grlic and colleagues who wanted to create a festival centered on audience experience rather than industry activity. By the mid-2000s, the Motovun Film Festival had grown into Croatia's best internationally known film event, building a reputation for informal, relaxed atmosphere, independent cinema programming, and an anti-authoritarian political stance. The festival was described by journalists as the "Woodstock of film."
By the early 2020s, the local community had reoriented toward luxury tourism, and the festival lost support and venues in Motovun. In 2023, the festival began a gradual relocation to Gorski Kotar. In 2024, the first full Gorski Kotar edition took place at the Petehovac ski resort. In 2025, the festival moved to Fuzine. The rebranding to Cinehill accompanied the geographic move. The current festival director is Igor Mirkovic, artistic director is Milena Zajovic, and programmer is Jurica Pavcic.
See Also
For festival submission cost analysis, use the Festival Entry Fee ROI Calculator. For European boutique festivals and circuit planning, see Film Festival Strategy. For Croatian and Southeast European cinema, see International Film Markets. Submit through FilmFreeway or visit the official festival site for full rules and guidelines.
