Canadian Premiere
The Croatian city of Rijeka rediscovers its own forgotten history in this delightfully unconventional hybrid documentary. In 1919, the decadent Italian poet, lothario, general, and proto-fascist Gabriele D’Annunzio takes great interest in the city known in Italian as Fiume — occupying it and proclaiming himself ruler. His short-lived regency causes an international uproar and local consternation before his ouster. In the present, director Igor Bezinović invites hundreds of locals to take part in a new documentary, turning the film into a citywide occasion of participation and collective storytelling.
A shifting, protean film, Fiume o Morte! moves between absurdist re-enactments and documented record. From whimsical sight gags to a sobering examination of fascism, Bezinović plays with history, inviting the viewer to laugh at the seams between history and invention while recognizing D’Annunzio’s self-aggrandizing vision of rule as an absurd act of invention in itself. This is a charming tour de force of cinematic storytelling that brings a truly fascinating piece of forgotten history to life.
Tiger Award (Best Film), FIPRESCI Award, Rotterdam 2025; Oscar Submission: Croatia
Oct 8 & 9: Q&A
Presented by
Supported by
Community Partner
Izet Medošević, Ćenan Beljulji, Albano Vučetić, Tihomir Buterin, Andrea Marsanich, Massimo Ronzani
Croatia/Italy/Slovenia
2025
In Croatian and Italian with English subtitles
Book Tickets
Credits & Director
Producer
Vanja Jambrović, Tibor Keser
Screenwriter
Igor Bezinović
Cinematography
Gregor Božič
Editor
Hrvoslava Brkušić
Production Design
Anton Spazzapan, Tiziana De Mario
Original Music
Giovanni Maier, Hrvoje Nikšić
Igor Bezinović
Igor Bezinović is a filmmaker born in Rijeka, now part of Croatia following a long history of shifting borders and foreign occupations. His films include The Blockade (2012) and Veruda (2015), both winners of the Oktavijan prize for Best Croatian Documentary, as well as A Brief Excursion (Big Golden Arena prize for Best Croatian Feature at the Pula Film Festival, 2017) and many shorts of all shapes and sizes. His work has been shown internationally at events including IFFR, DOK Leipzig, Kurzfilmtage Winterthur, Venice Biennale of Architecture, Museum of the Moving Image, Guanajuato IFF, and Viennale, among others.
Filmography: Blokada (2012); A Brief Excursion (2017)
Missing VIFF? Check out what's playing at the VIFF Centre
The History of Concrete
After attending a workshop on pitching saccharine Hallmark movies, John Wilson tries to apply all the same best practices to his documentary about concrete. Frequently absurd and endlessly entertaining detours, asides, and digressions ensue.
Whatcha Want
Whatcha Want, a hip-hop-infused drama from award-winning Vancouverite Mina Shum (Meditation Park), sees a restless trophy wife from Hong Kong rise above her wealthy husband’s infidelity by rekindling her passion for dance.
Whispers in May
Whispers in May follows Qihuo and her friends in China’s Liangshan Mountains as childhood gives way to womanhood. It blends close observation and scenes of the girls' search with animated fragments of Yi oral myth to create a hypnotic coming-of-age film.
Fjord
A conservative family faces state scrutiny over their parenting in a progressive Norwegian town. Starring Sebastian Stan and Renate Reinsve, Cristian Mungiu’s Palme d’Or–winning Fjord is a morally knotty drama about the limits of tolerance.
A Long Winter
Based on a short story by Colm Toibin and set in the Rockies in the 1950s, the latest from All of Us Strangers director Andrew Haigh is a piercing emotional drama about a family facing hardships over a few months in a cabin far above town.
Prosecution
When a young German prosecutor of Korean origin is attacked, she suspects a racist conspiracy and pursues the truth in defiance of her superiors. Prosecution is a film for our moment: a thriller that confronts the far-right head-on.