CHERRY POP FESTIVAL 2025
Story behind Cherry Pop Festival 2025 edition
In a society where many sexual and gender minorities still feel marginalized and unprotected, it is essential to encourage scientific and artistic reflection on sexual and gender identities. While some promote fear, intolerance, and hatred, the fourth edition of the Cherry Pop Festival asks the question And Who Are You? and offers a diverse program of films, panel discussions, an exhibition, a performance, a workshop, and a concert. All that with the aim of artistically and scientifically exploring the relationship between sexuality and identity.
Join us from October 23rd to 25th at Dokukino KIC, Zagreb.
Sweet Cherries short film competition
As part of the international short film competition program Sweet Cherries at Dokukino KIC, a total of 15 titles of all forms will be presented, most of which deal with themes of trans identity, self-acceptance, and self-expression.
These films, by authors from around the world, reflect through art on topics such as abuse at art academies, the everyday lives of sex workers, sexual fantasies, and the complexity of breakups. Some of the films have been screened at major festivals, including Locarno, Sundance, Toronto, and Cannes.
The jury of this year’s competition includes director Anja Koprivšek, film critic Miro Frakić, and festival guest Dan Sokoli, director of the Prishtina Queer Festival.
Cherry Pick
The accompanying film program Cherry Pick presents works that bring personal stories from the realm of trans identity and gender rights. It opens with the highly acclaimed debut feature Girl (2018) by now well-established Belgian director Lukas Dhont. The story of a 15-year-old who dreams of becoming a top ballerina but whose body cannot easily adapt to the strict discipline of ballet because she was born male shows us that sometimes there really is light at the end of the tunnel—unfortunately, it may just be the light of an oncoming train.
Aiming to bring closer different cultural perspectives on sexual identities, this year Cherry Pop also features a guest block with films from the Prishtina Queer Festival. The animated film BLUSH – An Extraordinary Voyage (Iiti Yli-Harja) and the documentary As I Was Looking Above, I Could See Myself Underneath (Ilir Hasanaj) offer a unique perspective on the experiences of Kosovar LGBTQ people. The program will be presented by the festival’s director, Dan Sokoli, and film program curator Dita Shaqiri.
The Cherry Pick section also includes Croatian productions that explore sexual and gender identity. The animated short All Those Sensations in My Belly (Marko Dješka) deals with the transition from male to female, while the documentary Grand Prize (Anja Koprivšek) portrays a unique love story from Zagreb’s ballroom scene.
Pan-Erotikum
Given the increasingly visible and significant creative contributions of women filmmakers in Croatia, the question remains—why is there still such a noticeable gap in gender representation within the film industry? This issue will be addressed as part of the panel Croatian Film Regen(d)erated, featuring Hana Jušić (director), Sanja Milardović (actress), and Dunja Ivezić (director & critic) moderated by Karla Kostadinovski.
The problems of the very concept of “gender” and the rise of anti-gender movements will be discussed in the panel Gender and Gender Trouble with Maja Gergorić (political scientist) and Milena Zajović Milka (journalist, psychologist), also moderated by Karla Kostadinovski.
At the Gallery Upstairs at the Cultural Information Center, the exhibition h i g h / s u g a r by artist Rena Hazulin will be held. Additionally, the performance “Object of Dance” by artist Sonja Pregrad will be staged.
The educational segment of the festival includes the “Who Are You, Who Are We?” intimacy workshop, held at the Ferenščica Community Center.
Finally, the festival closes with a concert at Klet featuring the so-called enfants terribles of the Zagreb scene, Cura i dečko.
Cherry Pop Festival program & schedule
THURSDAY 23 / 10 / 2025
18 h – Pan-Erotikum 1 / KIC
What could a drag persona called ‘Object of Dance’ talk to us about? In this solo act the artist is trying to stretch the concept of a drag from the body (identity) towards movement, speech and dance as a (theatre) performance. She is appropriating, estranging and modifying the way she performs – gender, body, presence, materiality, movement – by splitting the roles of an author, spectator and performer into fragments smaller than a singularity.
“What if I write from your work, and she writes from mine and his and hers, and then I take her voice, or give her mine, or withdraw my voice, or bring in hers? Where are you and us then? On the skin, nearness, on death, draft, silence, on something, and on someone, on departure, arrival, on interruption and on connection, discontinuity, on the corners of holes, interruptions of the end.”
The work continues on earlier choreographic solo works in which she deals with the objectivity of the (female) body (SOLO. and ‘Oh my body, if only you were there’) as well as on work with performance thanks to the collaboration with Studio TRAS on the play ‘How many cubic centimetres may my body occupy’.
Author and performer:
Sonja Pregrad is a dance author, performer, and pedagogue, holding a master’s degree in Solo/Dance/Authorship from the Universität der Künste Berlin and a bachelor’s degree from ArtEZ Arnhem. She also trained at SNDO Amsterdam, CodARTs Rotterdam, and the Ana Maletić School. She teaches within the SMASH/ROAR programs in Berlin, at the Academy of Fine Arts, Department of Animated Film and New Media, and at the Academy of Dramatic Art, Department of Dance in Zagreb.
18:30 h – Pan-Erotikum 2 / KIC
In this work, the artist explores sexual-romantic relationships between trans-feminine individuals and cis-hetero men, focusing on the sexual and emotional aggression, possessiveness, and fetishization that emerge within them.
Through the motifs of sugar and sweet delicacies, she questions “sweetness” as a value used to infantilize the desired person, while also examining the consequences and outcomes of these interactions on the inner and outer space of her own body. The work features motifs of sexuality, gender, desire, gluttony, destruction, tenderness, and cannibalism.
Artist: Rene Hazulin
19 h – Cherry Pick 1 / Dokukino KIC
The accompanying film program Cherry Pick presents works that bring personal stories from the realm of trans identity and gender rights.
We are opening Cherry Pick with the highly acclaimed debut feature Girl (2018) by now well-established Belgian director Lukas Dhont.
The story of a 15-year-old who dreams of becoming a top ballerina but whose body cannot easily adapt to the strict discipline of ballet because she was born male shows us that sometimes there really is light at the end of the tunnel—unfortunately, it may just be the light of an oncoming train.
21 h – Film competition Sweet Cherries 1 / Dokukino KIC
Soap for collective use, free to rotate around a wall-mounted axle.
“I wanted this film to be a tribute to the eroticism of our everyday lives. That which is triggered by a simple object and over which we have no control. What would happen if, alone, we gave in to our desires?”, said director Petra Von Schatz
Vida Skerk was supposed to be the future of Croatian cinema until she decided to continue her studies in London after experiencing sexual harassment by a professor at the Academy of Dramatic Arts in Zagreb.
Through Vida’s story, the film highlights how the Croatian film community treats victims of sexual violence.
After screening block we will have Q&A session with author Karla Jelić and Dora Čaldarović.
Film follows the diary of a trans-masculine person who sees his own and others’ views of his body change during his transition. Between desire, apprehension and questioning. From there, comfort grows with people who share this experience.
When Bastien dies, his group of friends decide to get hold of his sex toy collection before his mother finds out.
Navigating the aftermath of top surgery, Mad grapples with emotional upheaval at home, supported by their partner and mother.
FRIDAY 24 / 10 / 2025
17:30 h – Pan-Erotikum 3 / KIC
Why is “gender” rejected as “unscientific,” even though since the last century the concept of gender has been the subject of numerous scientific studies, and in the meantime has also become an integral part of international law?
What does “gender” even mean, and what is being placed under the term “gender ideology”?
In a society that still views the issue of gender and trans identity through misunderstanding, fear, and prejudice, it is crucial to encourage scientifically grounded discussions and separate them from unnecessary politicization.
Moderator: Karla Kostadinovski
Panelists: Maja Gergorić (political scientist), Milena Zajović Milka (journalist, psychologist).
The panel will be held in Croatian.
18 h – Pan-Erotikum 4 / MO Ferenščica
The educational segment of the festival includes the intimacy workshop “Who Are You, Who Are We?”, held at the Ferenščica Community Center.
This interactive and inclusive one-day workshop explores the multifaceted aspects of intimacy, led by psychotherapists Lana Hristov and Paula Zore, who ensure both expertise and a safe space for open conversation about sexuality.
The number of participants is limited, and the participation fee (€8.00) is to be paid as a donation upon arrival at the workshop. Applications are submitted via an online form.
The workshop will be held in Croatian.
19 h – Cherry Pick 1 / Dokukino KIC
Aiming to bring different cultural perspectives on sexual identities closer together, this year Cherry Pop also features a guest block with films from the Prishtina Queer Festival.
The program will be presented by the festival’s director Dan Sokoli and film program curator Dita Shaqiri, and after the screensing block we will have a Q&A session.
For Fatu, a simple visit to the grocery store feels as nerve-racking as a lunar expedition: for the first time in his life, he’s wearing makeup in public.
Home is a feeling, they say, but where is home, when you are not allowed to feel at home even within your own body and mind?
As I Was Looking Above, I Could See Myself Underneath unveils intimate stories of LGBTQ persons from Kosovo, going through their unceasing search for a safe place that allows them to be.
21 h – Film competition Sweet Cherries 2 / Dokukino KIC
The oppressive heat and their own bodies don’t make it too easy for Hans and Reinhard on their blind date.
Being a daughter, being a mother, becoming a woman.
“What we all felt, really, was a deep guilt about being women: the guilt that condemns us to be cute little girls, then devoted mothers, or, failing that, to be seen as bitches.” said director Carla Melo Gampert
Chloe Cam, the hottest porn star on social media, launches a “Fuck-a-Fan” contest to blow up her following and let one lucky fan live out his dream.
That turns out to be Thomas, an awkward young man from Amsterdam whose heart was recently crushed. When the lights go on and the camera starts rolling, Thomas and Chloe find themselves as they never expected: vulnerable, and accountable to each other.
The narrative develops through the author’s conversations with his long-time partner, and follows the contemplation of the end of a nine-year romantic relationship.
After the screening block, we will have a Q&A session with director Eugen Bilankov.
Nemo, 20, has just found out that he will soon be deaf. At the hospital, he catches the mischievous Lou stealing pharmaceuticals. Determined to escape this new reality that he can’t process, he decides to follow Lou through the night. As Nemo’s hearing disorder worsen and desire awakens between the two boys, Lou will teach him to let go in order to accept his condition.
SATURDAY 25 / 10 / 2025
17 h – Pan-Erotikum 5 / KIC
The European film industry is still struggling with its own small school of gender equality, since in the past five years there has not been a single European country that has reached a share of 30% of women directors of films with theatrical distribution.
Although in Croatia the creative contribution of women filmmakers is increasingly visible and significant, at the Pula Film Festival the share of female authors is only 2.8%.
Why does a noticeable gap in the representation of women within the film industry still exist? What progress has been made, and what obstacles continue to hinder equality in terms of gender representation in the film world?
Moderator: Karla Kostadinovski
Panelists: Hana Jušić (director), Sanja Milardović (actress) and Dunja Ivezić (director & critic).
The panel will be held in Croatian.
18:30 h – Cherry Pick 3 / Dokukino KIC
The 3rd Cherry Pick section also includes Croatian productions that explore sexual and gender identity.
All Those Sensations in My Belly is short animated documentary about the real life of transgirl Matia, who relates the story about her experience of transition process with a specific focus on complexity of finding true love with a heterosexual man.
After the screening block we will have Q&A session with the author Marko Dješka.
In conservative Croatia, the ballroom is a space of freedom for the LGBTQ community. Valentina is a talented voguer and one of the founders of the scene, while Teo is a beginner looking for his place. He finds support and inspiration in Valentina, who supports him in his transition, while he melts her walls with his persistence.
As time passes, their relationship develops and deepens, and the young couple begins to dream of a future together.
20 h – Film competition Sweet Cherries 3 / Dokukino KIC
In a large manor house identical figures eat the same, move the same, look the same. But everything will change for one woman when she gets given an orange by an unknown figure. She has never seen an orange. In the exploration of this new and exciting discovery, she gets transported into another realm of lichens, slugs and sensuous fluidity.
But how can she balance this with the world she knows? She must make a choice: abandon her discovery, or step forwards into a new way of being.
After an umpteenth after-party, Mia has an identity crisis, and for a few hours, her two best friends help her to overcome an important, if not the most important, stage in her life.
The lack of financial independence many young people to stay with their parents, which not only limits their daily freedom but also their ability to explore their sexuality naturally. In this context, three young men find their sexual encounter reduced to the only available space: the car of one of their grandfathers.
A cramped vehicle, with a musty smell and leather seats that squeak with every movement. An alien space where flesh collides with fear, pleasure mixes with awkwardness, and the body is squeezed in conflict between what it feels and what it’s allowed to show.
Faustyna is 22 years old and wants to find her voice. Will sex work and theatre help her in this journey?
Three friends in their twenties return to the place of their youth, where they in a late-pubescent frenzy between gas stations, highways and the oldest lesbian bar in the world have to renegotiate their friendship.
21:30 h – Award ceremony
22 h – Afterparty concert by cura i dečko at Klet
This festival is made for these two!
cura i dečko, dubbed the enfants terribles of the Zagreb scene, are coming home full of impressions, for their first Zagreb show of the year — fittingly, at the Cherry Pop Festival.
For those who’ve been before, you already know you’re coming for your life — shaken by a deluxe synth rig and sprinkled with a handful of glitter, crowned with a personal verse. And for those who don’t — they’ve just finished their album and are announcing its release this November!
Expect more — exciting, rebellious, and sincere, their shows are synonymous with good vibes, from a beautiful voice to busy feet. Together for nine years, they’ve been playing love: electronic, danceable, and shameless.
At Klet, the safe, in-place for Zagreb’s youth, they’re arriving full of thrill — because really, what could be better right now than a festival that celebrates sexuality, openness, and closeness?
