One in five elementary school pupils in Croatia has experienced peer harassment and one in three three-year-olds is physically punished at home.
The festival will show children's view of the problem through film, Gorana Dojcinovic, head of communications at UNICEF Croatia, told reporters.
The sixth edition of the festival was organised by UNICEF, the Croatian Film Association, and the Office of the Ombudswoman for Children, among others, and is taking place on the 25th anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
Aside from Zagreb and Split, the films will be shown in several other Croatian towns.
This year the festival has a partner country for the first time, Bosnia and Herzegovina.