One hundred and seven documentaries at the 21st edition of ZagrebDox

The twenty-first edition of the ZagrebDox International Documentary Film Festival will take place from March 30 to April 6 at Kaptol Boutique Cinemas. Over the eight festival days, the audience will have the opportunity to watch as many as 107 documentary films in 16 film programs. 20 films in the international documentary category and 18 titles in the regional competition are competing for the official festival award, the Big Stamp.

"Along with the explosions, wailing sirens, screams and fights spreading across this small, endangered planet of ours, I hear - silence. The silence of intelligence, reason, conversation and: humanity. The world is ruled by bullies, some new 'gold' determines the price of human lives and the future of entire nations, tens of thousands of people die every day on the fronts and outside them, and hundreds of thousands of those who thought they had escaped such a fate are stopped on the way to the life they believed is better and safer. Greed, stupidity and primitivism become the main 'ingredient' of our destinies. We were conceived in the world of post-war optimism. But is there hope for - hope, which I ask myself, above all, on those who bear the burden of the future - our children. I feel we have to try, if not to give meaning, if not to improve the world, then at least to understand what is really happening. ZagrebDox was created out of such a need. It is probably idealistic, ambitious, unrealistic…? Does it even make sense? Only you, our audience, can answer this question… We are here to show you how the world's best filmmakers, of all generations, nationalities and 'handwritings', see the world we live in. The real reality. And to have a conversation after the screening. And in that conversation, the exchange of thoughts and ideas, let's try to find – hope", said Nenad Puhovski, founder and artistic director of ZagrebDox.

International competition is a spectrum of film titles that bring us – real reality. Unfortunately, our reality is also the war in Gaza, but also the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The Qatari documentary directed by Mahmoud Atassi, Eyes of Gaza, follows three Palestinian journalists in northern Gaza who are forced to risk their lives for their work, and Yalla Parkour, directed by Areeb Zuaiter, reveals the harsh reality of that unfortunate city. Dear Theo, by Alise Kovalenko, who films the Ukrainian war through the eyes of a mother who takes up arms, reveals the emotional landscape of conflict and the resilience of humanity in the midst of chaos. The Silent Country Burns Slowly, by director Olga Zhurba, like an audiovisual diary, records the changes in Ukrainian society after it fell into the total hell of war. The illegal Russian underground music and art scene is flourishing. The film Fragments, by Masha Chernaya, gives us a glimpse into the street life of young people who do not support the regime. On the other hand, across Russia, elementary schools are being turned into recruitment centers. In their film Mr. Nobody Against Putin, David Borenstein and Pasha Talankin show the profound effect of the Putin regime on the lives of Russian children. The long-term effects of the war on the Syrian population and environment are explored in the short documentary Who Loves the Sun, directed by Arshija Shakiba. The aftermath of the war is also the subject of Birgitta Stærmosa's film After the War, which follows four children from Pristina growing up in a country where the effects of the 1990s war are still strongly felt. Tomasz Wolski takes us back to 1981 with his film A Year in the Life of a Country: Poland is on the brink of revolution, and the communist authorities will do everything they can to quell it. We stay in Poland a little longer. The growing humanitarian crisis on the EU border has penetrated the reality of a family who has created their own paradise in the oldest European forest on the border of Poland and Belarus in the visually impressive film The Forest, by Lidia Duda. Blending reality, fiction, theater, and musical, Iranian director Narges Kalhor brings us Shahid, an intimate portrayal of balancing reconciliation with the past, the present, and oneself.

The spectacle, by Yasmin van Dorp, exposes modern tourism as a public spectacle in which tourists in search of authentic experiences sometimes risk their own lives, but also the safety of their children. Filmed over two decades, Victoria Mapplebeck’s Motherhood celebrates single motherhood and proves that epic journeys can begin and end – at home. Sudan, Remember Us by director Hind Meddeb depicts poetry as a means of resistance in the Sudanese revolution. The film weaves together fragments of the revolution, connecting the unequal struggle of revolutionary youth against military force. In The Other Side of the Mountain, author Yumeng He examines the relationship between the permanence of human aspiration and the impermanence of the landscape we call home, while The Exorcist, by Elisabeth Lo, explores the conflict of emotion, pragmatism and cultural norms in love relationships in contemporary China. 

Homefront brings a humorous look at the life of the author Lidija Zelović herself, which reflects the current political climate in the Netherlands, but also in many other countries around the world. The film Chronicles of the Absurd, by Miguel Coyul, exposes the complex contradictions in the social and political dynamics of today's Cuba. Departure, by Ivan Vlasov and Nikita Stashkevich, was created in close collaboration with members of the Nenets community, and while presenting their rich folklore, it raises questions about the rights of children in a society of limited opportunities. Management by David Graudenz explores the making of models from the perspective of models. 

18 films are competing for the Big Stamp in the regional competition this year.

Nebojša Slijepčević will have the world premiere of his new documentary Red Slide at ZagrebDox, which follows the conflicts between two groups of citizens over the future of a park in New Zagreb. Aleksandr Reljić's film The Loudest Silence captures what we have all been closely following for months, student protests in Serbia, caused by the fall of a canopy that claimed 15 lives. Goran Dević directed the film Paviljon 6, and through honest conversations with people waiting in line for vaccination against Covid, he exposes the disorientation and skepticism that pervade our collective experience. The film Ovo je za more, by Renate Poljak, asks us if we can heal the sea, and the Hungarian documentary Bogalji brings a raw look at the lives of four disabled people who go to spend a weekend at Balaton. After finding the unedited tapes of her late father, author Dalija Dozet embarks on a personal journey in the film Lessons from my Dad. Dad's Lullaby, by Lesie Diak, shows us the unprecedented damage that war has done to the intimate relationships of a war veteran and his family. The father as a central theme also appears in Izidor Bistrović's film I'm Swimming, Daddy Loves You. After seven years, a family of six returns to the beach in Savudrija, where their father drowned seven years ago. Isabele Tent's Alice On&Off is a relentless portrayal of the repetition of trauma across generations, in which the main protagonist struggles to remain present in her son's life. Renata Lučić directed the film Godina prodža, dan nakaka, which records her visit to her father who lives in a rural part of Croatia and her efforts to understand why the family has broken up. Clara Trischler's film Night of the Coyote takes us to a Mexican village whose inhabitants, in order to save their village from extinction, simulate an experience that everyone knows: illegally crossing the border into the USA. They disguise themselves as border police and human traffickers so that tourists can feel like migrants for one night. 

Joze Schmuch's Field Trip follows an eighth grader on a field trip to Vukovar, as part of the Homeland War Memorial Center's program, and Petra Seliškar's My Summer Holidays follows eight-year-old Basri, who fervently wants to spend his summer holidays with his brother in the Macedonian mountains. In Who Will Knock at My Door, Maja Novaković introduces us to the world of Emin, who, in the twilight of his life, works hard in the harsh cold and seeks solace and warmth in the embrace of nature. In the essayistic film Exit Through the Madhouse, author Nikola Ilić tells the personal story of a soldier who never wanted to be one, and in Stefan Malešević's Wings and the Ground, we see how gender equality can flourish where you would least expect it. Under a Lucky Star by Peter Kerekes introduces us to Luciana, an Italian astrologer who many people contact to solve their problems, and Camilla Iannetti's The Golden Age tells the story of Lucy, a young Italian woman living in Yorkshire who is about to give birth to a baby girl. Her mother and younger sister have come to visit her to support her during this special time. The baby's father is a Gambian boy, Kitim, and the long-distance relationship between him and Lucy is full of uncertainty: the two dated briefly the previous summer in Palermo, and now they are trying to get to know each other over long video calls.

"ZagrebDox has turned twenty-one and we know what that means: it is in its best years, even though it doesn't know it itself! A big thank you to all patrons, sponsors and friends. The festival would not be possible without the support of the City of Zagreb, HAVC, the Kultura nova Foundation, the Zagreb Tourist Board and the Croatian Filmmakers' Association. I hope that this year we will justify their trust, as well as the trust of our loyal audience. We have prepared numerous novelties for this year, both in terms of programming and organization, and this would not have been possible without our great colleagues in the production team. We have redesigned ZagrebDox Pro, introduced a modern way of voting for audience awards, introduced a new program category, Audio Dox, returned Doxer accreditations for all those who want to support the Festival and made several steps towards a more sustainable, greener festival. In short: we can't wait for March 30th!" said ZagrebDox Executive Director Hrvoje Pukšec.