The International Documentary Film festival ZagrebDox has been for years transforming Zagreb into a vortex of recent documentary film production thus enabling audience a direct insight into impressive, daring stories and fates of colourful individuals from the farthest corners of the world.
The same goes for this year, only with new dates and a new venue. The 16th ZagrebDox takes place from 15 to 22 March at CineStar Zagreb – Branimir Mingle Mall. Throughout eight days all the visitors will get a chance to attend film screenings and reveal up-to-date creative preoccupations, consider a series of burning social issues and take part in a dialogue and meetings with filmmakers live, thus divulging and conveying the impressions of the tales told.
The 16th ZagrebDox festival will screen over a hundred feature and short documentaries from all over the world and host many local and international filmmakers.
*The Cave
ZagrebDox’s film programme includes titles honoured at festivals around the world and as many as three of this year’s Oscar nominees: The Cave by Feras Fayyad, For Sama by Waad al-Kateab and Edward Watts, and Learning to Skateboard in a Warzone (If You’re A Girl) by Carol Dysinger. All of these documentaries examine life and survival options in war-torn Middle East zones, sharing strong female protagonists whose actions and work cross the boundaries imposed on them by socio-religious-political circumstances. For more information, click here.
*Sea of Shadows
One of the new programme sections is Eco Dox, featuring four documentaries that in different ways point to the consequences of the global environmental crisis such as endangered animal species, air pollution, soil pollution, but also illustrate examples of innovative models of survival in areas struck by the crisis.
National Geographic’s thrilling documentary Sea of Shadows by the acclaimed Austrian director and cinematographer Richard Ladkani speaks about the disaster threatening the Baja California waters, today home to only 15 vaquita porpoises. Hollywood’s ardent eco-fighter Leonardo Di Caprio is the producer of this title, the audience award winner at Sundance, and the film confirmed the director’s status of a ‘docu-thriller’ master.
The Chinese city of Lengfang, haplessly crowned one of the worst air pollution cities in the world, is the scene of Smog Town by Chinese director Meng Han, and the documentary You Think the Earth is a Dead Thing by the French artist, director and photographer Florence Lazar speaks about the issue that befell the population on the Caribbean island of Martinique. In the film When Tomatoes Met Wagner by Mariana Economou, two Greek farmers set out on an unusual endeavour: with the help of Richard Wagner’s classical compositions, which they believe stimulate the growth of fruits, they grow tomatoes from authentic seed kept for hundreds of years. As the official Greek Oscar candidate, this film is one of the rare documentaries running in the best international film category.
Several titles from other sections of this year’s ZagrebDox also focus on environmental issues in different ways: in regional competition we will be watching films about the possibility to achieve a harmonious coexistence with nature: Then Comes the Evening by Maja Novaković, Siddharta by Damiano Giacomelli and Lorenzo Raponi and Acasa, My Home by Radu Ciorniciuc.
For more information, click here.
