ZagrebDox 2026: Factum Productions and Dox of Resistance

Societies have always endured pressure: we have faced oppression, occupations, and dictatorships, enduring wars, nationalism, patriarchy, racism, sexism, ableism, and religious intolerance. However, recently, something has shifted. Largely due to the ascent of social media and the unchecked growth of leading technological corporations, centers of power have tightened their grip and begun to operate as a single, consolidated force. The outcome is an acute awareness thaat we are all oppressed from all sides: socially, politically, culturally, and economically. In response, people organize and resist through creative actions, political activism, and mass protests. Documentary filmmakers are there to capture these movements and share them with the world, inspiring new forms of resistance even in the most remote places, while perusing the very same forces that helped consolidate that oppression in the first place. This year, ZagrebDox's novel Dox of Resistance Program features six films that explore different facets of such action.

Two of the films come from the United States, where right-wing sentiments are stronger than ever. In The Librarians, directed by Kim A. Snyder, unlikely heroes oppose book bans in school libraries in Florida and Texas, while Michael T. Workman and Kei Pritsker's stunning The Encampments introduces us to a student movement protesting their universities’ ties to Israel’s genocide in Gaza. From Ukraine, longstanding festival guest Alisa Kovalenko teams up with co-director Marysia Nikitiuk in Traces, a film where courageous women confront the consequences of wartime sexual violence. In The Woman Who Poked The Leopard, directed by Patience Nitumwesiga, a headstrong political figure and poet Stella Nyanzi, imprisoned for her beliefs, defies Uganda’s dictator through acts of creative provocation. From Iran comes the hauntingly beautiful short As I Lay Dying, directed by longtime ZagrebDox guests Mohammadreza Farzad and Pegah Ahangarani, bearing witness to the devastating consequences faced by protest participants. These are stories from which we all have much to learn.

Among Factum Productions, ZagrebDox once again presents two films produced by Croatia’s most prominent independent documentary production company, Factum. The film Not for Sale tells the story of Zagreb's citizens facing the consequences of uncontrolled urban development and infrastructural corruption, following protagonists who have chosen to remain in their homes despite sweeping changes to the city’s identity. Its director, Marina Aničić Spremo, had previously collaborated with Factum on her debut feature documentary Dubica in 2021, where she acted as its director, screenwriter, and cinematographer. The film received the Best Female Voice award at the Forteca International Film Festival in 2023. One version of ZagrebDox exists in printed catalogs, programs, and photographs. However, what we genuinely remember is a completely different festival: intangible, fragmented, and inevitably subjective. The film essay Subjective by Anja Koprivšek represents ZagrebDox and Factum's joint effort to upend the conventional festival chronicle with an innovative and personal perspective on festival life, seen through the lens of a young filmmaker. The film explores what it genuinly means to partake in a documentary film festival and what we remember after the curtains close.

This year’s edition of ZagrebDox is rounded out by significant international recognition. Beginning with 2026, ZagrebDox is joining the Cannes Docs family, a prestigious global network of documentary film festivals affiliated with the Marché du Film in Cannes. ZagrebDox will thus become the first Croatian film festival to join this momentous international partnership. The Cannes Docs family gathers festivals that contribute to the development of documentary cinema by placing them at the heart of one of the world’s most significant film festivals and markets. Within its PRO Program, ZagrebDox continues to strengthen its international connections, collaborating with festivals such as Doclisboa and Ji.hlava, as well as the Mediterranean film market MEDIMED. These partnerships affirm ZagrebDox’s position as an active participant in the global documentary network. Such collaboration and exchange contribute not only to the growth of the festival itself but to the strengthening of the documentary industry as a dynamic, interconnected, and constantly evolving whole. The festival continues its established partnership with the Rab Film Festival (RAFF), where selected projects will be invited to participate in residencies, while others may receive year-long support from the dynamic production company Impronta Films.

The International Documentary Film Festival ZagrebDox will take place at Kaptol Boutique Cinema from April 19 to 26, 2026. ZagrebDox is supported by the City of Zagreb, the Croatian Audiovisual Centre, the Croatian Film Directors’ Guild, and the Zagreb Tourist Board. For the latest news and information, visit http://zagrebdox.net/ and follow the festival on social media.