Croatia’s ZagrebDox celebrates its first decade beginning this Sunday, February 23, with the documentary fest wrapping up its tenth edition the following Sunday, March 2. Nearly a hundred features screen over the course of the event, representing new and recent docs, as well as a significant number of retrospective works. Amongst its lineup are several titles familiar from the international documentary circuit, already covered here elsewhere, and, more intriguingly, a healthy sampling of national and regional work, much of it spotlighted below:
Of its two official competition strands, the event’s Regional Competition offers more curiosity, including: Dragan Nikolić’s THE UNDERTAKER (pictured), a profile of a Serbian man who grows weary of his unusual profession; Irena Škorić’s DEAR LASTAN!, which reveals the true story behind an iconic Yugoslavian children’s hero; Damir Čučić’s MITCH – DIARY OF A SCHIZOPHRENIC, a portrait of a Croatian artist with often violent psychiatric episodes; Marija Dzidzeva’s PURSUIT OF LUCK, which follows Macedonian men to Moscow searching for brides; and Hrvoje Mabić’s 4TH MONKEY, about a scandal at a Croatian children’s psychiatric hospital.
The less well-known entries in this year’s International Competition include Giedrė Beinoriūtė’s CONVERSATIONS ON SERIOUS TOPICS (pictured), which poses questions to youth; and a matching pair of films – Paweł Łoziński’s FATHER AND SON and Marcel Łoziński’s FATHER AND SON ON A JOURNEY, dual portraits made during a road trip across Europe.
Ten sections make up ZagrebDox’s Official Programme, many organized thematically – from recent work by auteurs in Masters of Dox to music docs in Musical Globe. Some notable titles include Jane Magnusson and Hynek Pallas’ consideration of Fårö, TRESPASSING BERGMAN, from the Biography Dox strand; Borut Šeparović’s minute-long portraits of 50somethings, CONSUMED; and Ágota Varga’s examination of Hungarian espionage, THE SPYMASTER, both in Controversial Dox; Lidia Duda’s story of an octogenarian hitchhiker, EVERYTHING IS POSSIBLE, from Happy Dox; Bregtje van der Haak’s exploration of the genetic future, DNA DREAMS, from the State of Affairs section; Tatjana Božić’s humorous reckoning with her failed love life, HAPPILY EVER AFTER, from the Factumentaries sidebar; and Lisa Mirjam Wimmer’s look at a daughter’s attempt to bond with her absent father, ROOTS AND WINGS; and Susann Østigaard and Beathe Hofseth’s portrait of a determined lowborn Indian girl who strives to succeed at boxing, LIGHT FLY, FLY HIGH (pictured), both in Teen Dox.
Finally, the fest’s programming is rounded off by several retrospectives, including work chosen by Croatian film critics, a selection from Poland’s Wajda School, recent Croatian Feature Docs, and Docufiction, a grouping of three recent hybrid projects, such as Visra Vichit-Vadakan’s KARAOKE GIRL (pictured), which follows a Thai village girl-turned-escort for four years.
what (not) to doc 