ZagrebDox tuesday

The first day of the 21 st ZagrebDox is already behind us, and what remains in our memory are the screenings full to capacity that included the world premiere of My Dad’s Lessons by Dalija Dozet and the Croatian premiere of Blum – Master of Their Own Destiny by Jasmila Žbanić, as well as the new films by Nebojša Slijepčević, Aleksandar Reljić and Jozo Schmuch, Red Slide, The Loudest Silence and Field Trip, as well as the attractive Chinese Mistress Dispeller. Fortunately, the films by D. Dozet and J. Schmuch can still be seen at ZagrebDox on Thursday, and Mistress Dispeller on Saturday. Powerful scenes of young lives caught in difficult political, war and family circumstances and their resistance to oppression, along with the attempts of somewhat more mature generations to come to terms with their personal and collective history, also marked the festival Monday. We also watched four extraordinary biographies, hung out with teachers that today’s world certainly needs, visited Vukovar, Brijuni and the Congo and learned about new forms of sustainable economy.

Today, which begins at 2 pm (theatre 2) with the traditionally free first screening (Marching in the Dark by director Kinshuk Surjan is a film about a characterful Indian suicidal widow who, in her fight against conservative society and her own demons, can rely on women with whom she shares the same traumatic experience), promises at least equally intense film excitement.

At 3 pm, Regional Competition continues with Maja Novaković’s film At the Door of the House Who Will Come Knocking (theatre 4), awarded in Sheffield for its meditation on the magical winter cliffs of Bosnia and Herzegovina successfully transformed into a cinematic metaspace, but also about an aging, lonely and often sad hermit. At the same time, theatre 5 will be showing the title from this year’s Sundance – GEN_ by Gianluca Matarrese, about a Milanese doctor of progressive practices of gender transition and artificial insemination, which he approaches individually, carefully and with a touch of humour.

At 3:30 pm, theatre 1 brings a new opportunity for The Shards from the life of Russian underground youth by Maša Chernaya, and those who saw this must-see film yesterday can devote themselves in the same slot to two works from Regional Competition in theatre 3 – Gone Swimming, Love Dad by Izidor Bistrović and My Summer Holiday by Petra Seliškar. After the notable work Thank You, Mother, student I. Bistrović at Zagreb’s ADU from Čakovec, with his new film, remains inside the circle of his own family, which, seven years after his father’s death, goes on a summer vacation together – and to the very beach where his father tragically lost his life. Petra Seliškar also focuses on summer holidays, but her eight-year-old protagonist spends them with his older shepherd brothers in the mountains of Macedonia – in the wild nature far from the world of adults.

At 4 pm, another, this time a ‘triple bill’ of Regional Competition will be screened in theatre 2, which includes Renata Poljak’s new film This Is (for) the Sea (with a Q&A with the author), as well as works by Nikola Ilić (Exit through the Cuckoo’s Nest) and Judit Surányi (Crips). At the centre of Renata Poljak’s audiovisual poem, returning to a somewhat more experimental expression after the successful Šume šume, is a twelve-year-old plankton researcher whose subject of interest is shown in all its splendour in this film, but This is (for) the Sea is also a more comprehensive dedication to the title addressee. Nikola Ilić’s work also steps into the field of experimental film as it uses a combination of home video, surveillance footage and his own interventions in the material to narrate the experiences of a reluctant soldier from the wars of the 1990s. Finally, Judit Surányi brings a first-hand look at four disabled people over a weekend at Lake Balaton, capturing both the logistical challenges and obstacles to their endeavour, as well as the persistent resilience and the sparkling and witty personality of the protagonists.

At 5 pm (theatre 4), the controversial dox Antidote by Emmy-winning director James Jones is a chilling and shocking, real-time insight into the lives of a twice-poisoned whistleblower and activist and a dissident journalist, a “traitor” to Putin’s Russia. At the same time, theatre 5 will screen Made in Ethiopia (d. Xinyan Yu, Max Duncan) about the penetration of Chinese industrial capital into the rural areas of this African country, or rather the encounter of tradition and modernity – a film told through three women’s stories spanning four years.

At 5:30 pm in theatres 1 and 3, International Competition titles are. In "no. 1" we watch David Graudenz’s Reign and The Other Side of the Mountain Yumeng He (with a Q&A with the author), which are joined, out of competition, by Karla Jelić’s new film Yet Another One (also with a Q&A with the author). Reign is an unusual look into the world of modelling, and The Other Side of the Mountain is an anthropological, but also personal, family document of the rapid urbanisation of China and an attempt to bridge the human longing for home and the impermanence of the landscape with artistic creation. Karla Jelić will certainly attract a lot of attention with her film about the sexual harassment that her protagonist experienced at the Academy of Dramatic Art. Yet Another One is also made interesting by the observation of the social treatment of a sexual harassment victim, as well as the fact that unfortunately this is not a unique case either in the aforementioned institution or at the University of Zagreb. In theatre 3, Victoria Mapplebeck’s Motherboard is eagerly awaited, also with the presence of the director – a portrait of a single mother and freelance director who has turned the camera towards herself and her son for 20 years, recording in a relaxed and humorous way even such adversities as depression, cancer and poverty.

At 6 pm in theatre 2, Justina Matov’s I’ll Find You is also a self-referential work – a new Factumentary about a filmmaker who, upon returning from Belgium, searches for her father, a famous musician who has disappeared from her life. It is a film about loves found, as well as those for which it is too late. The screening will be followed by a Q&A with the author.

At 7 pm in theatre 4, International Competition will reveal Who Loves the Sun (d. Arshia Shakiba) – a Venice Film Festival-awarded work about the consequences of the Syrian war on the environment and people who have not left the country, but have turned to the intriguing venture of improvised refineries – and Eyes of Gaza (d. Mahmoud Atassi), a look into the disastrous adventures of three Palestinian journalists who, reporting from one of the most dangerous areas in the world, and also their home, defend the ideals of the profession. At the same time, Alice On & Off (Regional Competition) can be seen again in theatre 5.

At 7:30 pm, fans of Croatian documentary will not miss the opportunity to enjoy Pavilion 6 by the prolific Goran Dević, dedicated to the Covid epidemic as a synecdoche of a permanent crisis in society. Dević will personally present his film, which is competing in the Regional Competition of ZagrebDox. In parallel, two controversial doxes are being screened in theatre 3 – Adidas Owns the Reality (dir. Keil Orion Troisi, Igor Vamos) and Cyclemahesh (dir. Suhel Banerjee). The first film, which is highly conceptual, depicts an activist group that stages a shocking fashion show at Berlin Fashion Week to draw attention to the abysmal state of labour rights and environmentalism at this sportswear and footwear giant, while the second is a strikingly shot metafictional film about a construction worker’s cycling odyssey. Cyclemahesh was awarded the Best Debut Film at the prestigious IDFA festival.

At 8 pm in theatre 2, Roads of Fire by Nathaniel Lezra, winner of the Santa Barbara Festival, brings three stories of forced migration from different parts of the world, connecting them into a unique triptych of individual courage in facing the greatest humanitarian crisis of our time. Nathaniel Lezra will talk about his film after the screening.

Tuesday’s 9pm slot brings a film with a special recommendation from ZagrebDox’s artistic director – Lidia Duda’s Forest (International Competition, theatre 4), a story about a family whose characteristic attempt to ‘escape to nature’ is thwarted by the migrant crisis. Fortunately, the family readily responds to humanity and helps those in need in the oldest European forest. Another controversial dox is scheduled at the same time in theatre 5 – Undercover: Exposing the Far Right, an exciting British work about an anti-fascist investigation of contemporary racists and neo-fascists whose money comes from Silicon Valley.

And in the last slot on Tuesday, at 9:30 pm, ZagrebDox presents viewers with a sweet choice. In theatre 1, you can see Writing Hawa (dir. Najiba Noori, Rasul Noori) – an empathetic story about three generations of Hazara women in Afghanistan who are trying to emancipate themselves from patriarchal traditions. In theatre 3, Tuesday ends with Soil and Wings by Stefan Malešević, about a Turkish family living in North Macedonia at the crossroads of ancient dervish doctrine and the challenges of modern life.

Tuesday is also the first day of the popular discursive program ZagrebDoXXL. A masterclass open to all interested public will be held on the topic of the challenges of the archival documentary by the master of the documentary form Tomasz Wolski (3 pm, KIC), while Anna Giralt Gris and Jorge Caballero from the Spanish production company Artefacto will speak about the extremely topical topic of artificial intelligence in audiovisual production (5 pm, KIC).

This Tuesday, from 2 pm to 10 pm, audio documentaries will be heard in the lobby of the Kaptol Boutique Cinema, including the Czech OK, Boomer by Daniel Kupšovský about the generation gap and the war of stereotypes between baby boomers and younger generations.