Iva Kraljević’s ‘Leave this Room Buried’, an experimental documentary film has won the Grand Prix for Short Film at the 31st Split Film Festival, taking place from 11 to 18 September 2026 in Split. This marks the first time in the festival’s history that the Short Film Grand Prix has been awarded to a Croatian film.
The jury awarded the film with the following statement:
This film is a deeply intimate and quietly unsettling film that explores grief, memory, and what remains unspoken. Its fragmented imagery and unconventional narrative create a strong sense of intimacy, drawing the viewer into a deeply personal world. The amazing sound design adds another emotional layer, making silence and atmosphere feel almost tangible. Rather than explaining everything, the film leaves space for ambiguity and reflection. Raw, haunting, and visually compelling, Leave This Room Buried lingers in the mind long after it ends.
Set in a world falling apart, ‘Leave this Room Buried’ follows a journey through personal imagination and fragile verses, capturing grief, complicity in silence and fragments of presence in what remains. Iva Kraljević is credited with the screenplay, direction, cinematography, editing and sound design, while Ivan Zelić handled the sound mix. The producers are Igor Grubić and Marijana Veljović.
This is the film’s second festival recognition, following its Best Regional Film and Best Sound Design awards at the Liburnia Film Festival.
Split Film Festival is an international festival dedicated to experimental, innovative and author-driven cinematic and audiovisual practices. Since its foundation in 1996, it has provided a space for films that explore new forms, modes of storytelling and the possibilities of cinematic expression.
