This Sunday, February 26 sees the start of the 13th annual ZagrebDox. The Croatian event will present 75 new and recent feature documentaries before it comes to a close on Sunday, March 5. In addition to offering local audiences a look at many favorites from the larger doc festival circuit, the festival showcases new regional work, some of which is noted below:
The Regional Competition includes more than a dozen features, including: Tzvetan Dragnev’s VILLAGE PEOPLE, on rural Bulgarian life; Marko Mamuzić’s THE TRAMWAY HOTEL, about Belgrade’s homeless, centered around a public transit line; Biljana Čakić’s MARATHON MEN, about runners of different ethnic backgrounds; Ljiljana Šišmanović’s UNSUCCESSFUL TOTALLY, a portrait of an unsuccessful artist; Goran Dević’s THE STEEL MILL CAFÉ, which follows the final days of a struggling café; and Srđan Šarenac’s TWO SCHOOLS (pictured), about a football tournament between segregated Bosnian and Croatian schools which share the same building. Among the more familiar films in the International Competition are Qiong Zheng’s A WAY OUT, a multi-year look at Chinese adolescents; and Pawel Lozinski’s YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW MUCH I LOVE YOU, a hybrid about a mother and daughter in therapy.
Outside of the competitions, ZagrebDox presents eight thematic strands as part of its Official Program. Among these are Biography Dox, with films like Pau Faus’ ADA FOR MAYOR, following the campaign of Barcelona mayor Ada Colau; State of Affairs, presenting Paul S Refsdal’s DUGMA: THE BUTTON, a behind-the-scenes look at suicide bombers; Controversial Dox, including Irena Škorić’s UNWANTED HERITAGE, on the destruction of once revered monuments after a political regime change; Happy Dox, with Miro Remo’s COOLTOUR, a consideration of the Slovak cultural identity; Teen Dox, presenting Diar Omar, Besameh Soleiman, Hazem Khodeideh, Rounahi Ezaddin, Delovan Kekha, Sami Hussain, Zohur Saeid, and Mahmod Ahmad’s LIFE ON THE BORDER (pictured), the children filmmakers’ perspective of life in refugee camps; and ADU Dox, works made by students of the Academy of Dramatic Art, including Lidija Špegar’s WHERE TO?, about a female Croatian taxi driver.
what (not) to doc 