This year, the Weekend has prepared a range of topics that will take you deep into the world of knowledge and entertainment. Under the slogan #živioživot, visitors will experience the best weekend of the year, full of interesting and dynamic content, as the WMF brings love, connection and friendship back to the forefront after a very difficult year.
On Friday, September 24, the Weekend Media Festival will be opened by world-famous traveler Kristijan Iličić (Nomadik Travel), influencers Ella Dvornik-Pearce and Erna Saljević (Diva is Back) and Balkan TikToker Dario Marčac with the panel discussion “Influencers”, which will reveal the secrets of influencer marketing. Nikola Dujmović, CEO of Span, will describe the company’s journey from an IT startup to being publicly listed in “Span: from garage to stock exchange”. Croatia’s three-time European champion skier Ivica Kostelić, Olympic sailor Ivan Kljaković Gašpić and Croatian water polo champion Dubravko Šimenc will discuss how sporting events such as the Snow Queen Trophy, the WRC and ACI Sail contribute to the promotion of Croatia around the world.
Renowned German psychiatrist Manfred Spitzer will present the problematic impact of technology on everyday life in a slightly different way with his lecture entitled “The Smartphone Epidemic: A threat to Health, Education and Society”. Theatre, television and film actor Goran Bogdan will speak and answer questions on whether you have to be a celebrity to be an influencer and vice versa in “Influencer celebrity – to be or not to be”. Ivan Petrović (Exit Festival), Jovan Marjanović (Sarajevo Film Festival), Tomislav Radoš (HGK) and Joe Bašić (Ultra Europe) will talk first hand about the impact of festivals on tourism and life in the host city in “How do festivals change destinations?”. Well-known regional TV personalities Jovana Joksimović (K1), Zoran Šprajc (RTL) and Zoran Kesić (Nova.rs) will talk about the ubiquitousness of infotainment in television content.
On the same day, American Croatian Pete Radovich, Jr., one of the top sports producers in the USA, will explain how sports have remained the only truly authentic content on TV and how he sold soccer to Americans in “Sport – the best reality TV in the world”.
Award-winning Croatian creative director and co-owner of Bruketa&Žinić&Gray, Davor Bruketa; and Marko Matejčić, director of strategic planning at MediaCom, will discuss how they became winners of the Cannes Lion International Festival of Creativity in “How to win the Cannes Lion”.
Last year was marked by activism around the world, as numerous associations and citizens rebelled against injustices in society. Speaking on the subject of activism will be Jelena Veljača, the founder of the MeToo-inspired “Spasi me” movement, Croatian MP Sandra Benčić (We Can!), Nevena Rendeli and Vesna Blašković, founders of SOS Zagreb, and Asja Krsmanović, an actress and women’s rights activist from Sarajevo.
The condition for entry to the Weekend Media Festival is an EU digital COVID certificate that can be obtained by fully vaccinated persons, persons who have recovered from Covid-19 in the last 180 days or persons who have tested negative. Quick antigen tests will be possible at the entrance to the premises of the old Tobacco Factory.
