Festival director Natasa Popovic said on Thursday the focus was on developing tolerance, accepting diversity, opening platforms for conducting and teaching dialogue, and talks on topics ranging from World War II and the Holocaust to current issues such as rape and abuse of women.
She said most of the films were about refugees. They were selected by her and Oscar-winning film producer Branko Lustig.
As part of the accompanying programme, the first director of the Simon Wiesenthal Centre, Efraim Zuroff, will present the Croatian edition of his book "Operation Last Chance: One Man's Quest to Bring Nazi Criminals to Justice".
Concentration camp survivors Lusting and Dan Dragutin Bar-Sela will also give a talk, Cathy S. Gelbin of the University of Manchester will speak about the depiction of the Holocaust in films, and there will round tables on the future of Europe, dedicated to the refugee crisis, on the integration of migrants into Croatian society, and on the abuse of women.
Two prominent photographers, Aneglica Dass of Brazil and Silvia Grav of Spain, will show their works in two exhibitions, "Humanae" and "About the Holocaust" respectively.
One of the programmes is called Festival Market, which this year will present the Hong Kong Jewish Film Festival, the Bergen International Film Festival, the Rasnov Histories and Film Festival, and the Rijeka History Film Festival.
Entrance to all programmes is free of charge.