‘Fiume O Morte!’ leads winners at first Adriatic Film & TV Awards

Igor Bezinovic’s Fiume O Morte! led the winners for the first Adriatic Film & TV Awards (AFAs), which took place at Porto Montenegro in Tivat, Montenegro from October 24-26.

The documentary took prizes for best film, best director and best screenplay for Bezinovic.

Scroll down for the full list of winners

Fiume O Morte! is a co-production between Croatia, Italy and Slovenia – three countries bordering the Adriatic Sea. It sees the citizens of the Croatian town of Rijeka – called Fiume by Italians – reconstruct a bizarre story about the 16-month occupation of their city in 1919 by Italian poet, dandy and war preacher Gabriele D’Annunzio.

Jara Sofija Ostan won the best leading actress prize for her role in Urska Djukic’s Little Trouble Girls, which also took the best debut film prize.

Fiume O Morte! and Little Trouble Girls are both international feature Oscar entries for 2026, for Croatia and Slovenia respectively.

Two prizes went to Mladen Dordevic’s The Working Class Goes To Hell – best leading actor for Leon Lucev, and the Rising Star award for Lidija Kordic.

Winners were selected by the 550 members of the Film and TV Academy of the Adriatic region, which is currently in the process of being established.

The awards were initiated earlier this year by the founders of the Network of Festivals in the Adriatic Region: Sarajevo Film Festival, Auteur Film Festival Belgrade, and Zagreb Film Festival.

“We celebrate the creativity of this entire region and hope this will become an additional form of recognition for our directors and actors,” said Mirsad Purivatra, president of the AFA Committee. “The turnout for the awards ceremony shows that such recognition was truly needed.”

“This is not just an award ceremony. It is a space for ongoing dialogue, knowledge exchange and intergenerational solidarity,” said Sarajevo festival director Jovan Marjanovic. “Most of the nominated films are the result of co-productions between our countries, and that collaboration is precisely the strength of this project,” added Zagreb Film Festival director Boris T. Matic; while Igor Stankovic, director of Auteur Film Festival Belgrade, said that “through future co-productions and collaborations, a new era of joint filmmaking will emerge and that the AFA Awards will be the ones to safeguard and promote creative freedom and the courage of artistic expression.”

The ceremony has been positioned for the beginning of the international awards season, with the aim of launching titles from the Adriatic region onto the global circuit.

Adriatic Film & TV Awards 2025

Best film – Fiume O Morte!, dir. Igor Bezinovic

Best leading actress – Jara Sofija Ostan, Little Trouble Girls

Best leading actor – Leon Lucev, The Working Class Goes To Hell

Rising Star award – Lidija Kordic, The Working Class Goes To Hell

Best debut film – Little Trouble Girls, dir. Urska Djukic

Best TV series – Operation Sabre, cre. Vladimir Tagic, Goran Stankovic

Best leading actress in a TV series – Milica Gojkovic, Operation Sabre

Best leading actor in a TV series – Dragan Micanovic, Operation Sabre

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