PHOTO: Anniversary ZagrebDox officially opens
15.4.2024.
Over the next week, the audience at Kaptol Boutiqe Cinema can expect 102 documentary titles, of which 19 films are competing for the official festival award Big Stamp in the international documentary film category and 21 in regional competition, and there will also be a series of special film programmes, masterclasses and Q&As with the authors. The festival opened with the film Smiling Georgia, directed by Luka Beradze, and the attendees were greeted by executive director Hrvoje Pukšec and artistic director Nenad Puhovski.
After the screening of a short film about the first edition of ZagrebDox in 2005, the founder and artistic director Nenad Puhovski pointed out: “It is from it evident that the orientation towards artistic, author’s documentary (the opening film, Werner Herzog’s White Diamond), films about human rights (Bride Kidnapping), monitoring of new technologies (Mobile Phone Stories), retrospectives of documentary masters (Broomfield, Kieslowski), dedication to Croatian film (retrospective of documentaries in the 60s and 70s), controversial topics (a story about a gay couple whose surrogate mother gives birth to a child) but also the unique Happy Dox (Useless Dog). It is interesting that the two most important awards – the Big Stamp – were won by women directors – Pirjo Honkasalo for Three Rooms of Melancholia in international competition and Jasmila Žbanić (Images from the Corner) in the regional competition. Unfortunately, we are also aware of some defeats. Because, while Three Rooms... thematizes Russian aggression on Chechnya, today it continues in Ukraine. However, knowing that documentaries cannot change the world, we do not stop fighting for our right to speak clearly about it and encourage conversations about important topics,” concluded Puhovski.
Nenad Puhovski was then joined on stage by Dana Budisavljević, the first producer of ZagrebDox, and Tue Steen Müller, the initiator of ZagrebDox Pro, and they awarded him a special stamp for his contribution to the Festival itself, but also to the film and cultural environment of Croatia and this part of Europe.
On behalf of the organizers, Hrvoje Pukšec greeted the representative of the Prime Minister of the Republic of Croatia Krešimir Partl, the Mayor of the City of Zagreb Tomislav Tomašević and his associates, the representative of the President of the City Assembly of the City of Zagreb Tihomir Milovac, the third President Ivo Josipović, distinguished ambassadors and representatives of the diplomatic corps, representatives of the Croatian Parliament, HAVC director Chris Marcich and other high-ranking guests, as well as the audience for whom this festival exists. He also thanked numerous partners and sponsors; To the City of Zagreb, HAVC, the Kultura nova Foundation, the Tourist Board of the City of Zagreb, the Croatian Film Directors Guild, as well as numerous embassies, cultural institutes and companies, and Atlantic Group. “We are looking forward to an exceptional film festival, an anniversary, given the circumstances a somewhat unusual festival, and we will definitely do our best to meet your expectations. Enjoy the next eight days at ZagrebDox!” said the executive director of ZagrebDox.
The Mayor of the City of Zagreb, Tomislav Tomašević, greeted the guests and congratulated the ZagrebDox team led by founder Nenad Puhovski on 20 years of building “one of the best documentary film festivals in all of Europe”. Emphasizing the great effort of the volunteers, he concluded by saying to the gathered audience: “ZagrebDox is the pride of our city, watch films, enjoy films, films rock, and documentaries are the best,” and declared the Festival open.
Before the first festival screening, the director of the film Smiling Georgia, Luka Beradze, greeted the audience via video.
Last night’s official opening of the 20th anniversary ZagrebDox, with its touching, significant, but brief review of two decades of artistic and polemical mediation of reality (2,800 films, more than 350,000 viewers, over 6,500 guests) and the crucial shaping of Croatian and European documentary only confirmed how, respecting always the past and the classics, it is necessary to turn as soon as possible to the fundamental reasons for Dox’s timeless vitality – the latest and most relevant film works and the meetings and conversations associated with them.
