ZAGREB DOX. FESTIVAL’S OVERVIEW
Another international success of Polish documentary filmmakers - "Returns" by Krzysztof Kadłubowski wins the "Big Stamp" award while "Decrescendo" by Marta Minorowicz and "Paparazzi" by Piotr Bernas receive special mentions at 8th International Documentary Festival Zagreb DOX, that has just came to an end in the capital of Croatia.
Along with the above mentioned "Returns" and "Decrescendo" by Marta Minorowicz precisely five Polish films were selected to the competition of Zagrebian festival. Piotr Bernaś ("Paparazzi"), Paweł Kloc ("Phnom Penh Lullaby") and Piotr Sułkowski ("The Conversation") visited Zagreb to present their films in person to the festivals' audience. There were also two additional films screened in the non-competitive sections - "Bon Appetit" by Kuba Maciejko and "The contest" by Jakub Cuman. A strong representation of Poles were visible also on the jury teams - Krzysztof Gierat - the director of Krakow Film Festival led the work of regional jury while Piotr Złotorowicz - last year's laureate of the "Little Stamp" - was a member of the jury judging films presented in the competition for the young filmmakers.
Again lots was said about how strong is Polish contemporary documentary now. It was very interesting to overhear the enthusiastic discussions that jury of the international competition ran on which of the Polish documentaries was to be praised the best. In the end it will be hard to forget the poignant silence after the screening of "Returns" - says Krzysztof Gierat.
Festival’s programme proved abundant also in terms of the non-competitive programme - just to mention - a retrospective of Jay Rosenblatt’s work - the laureate of Krakow Film Festival and many industry events, numerous meetings with professionals and the pitching. Among many guests one could easily trace Ally Derks - the founder and director of IDFA and Tue Steen Müller - a prominent film consultant from Denmark - both visiting Krakow last year.
Poles dominated the main competition, scoring two of three main awards. What is worth mentioning that there were precisely 29 films of long and short length competing for the "Big stamp" award and majority of them was already screened at many international festivals. The jury comprised of Tomislav Radić - the best known Croatian filmmaker, Aleksander Gutman - an outstanding Russian documentary filmmaker and Norwegian Truls Lie - the head of European documentary magazine DOX, decided to choose "Returns" by Kadłubowski and award it the "Big Stamp". On giving reasons to their decision they appreciated the concise structure of this 7 minutes long, poignant report shot during the preparation for the reception of the body remains of those who died in the Smoleńsk air catastroph. Another distinguished film was "Paparazzi" shot by Piotr Bernaś, that in one of the final scenes also refers also to the subject of this national tragedy. This portrait of the ruthless paparazzi was awarded last year in Krakow where it received the nomination for EFA. The last but not the least awarded film - "Decrescendo" by Marta Minorowicz - also screened in Krakow last May, received the special mention in the section for the young filmmakers.
Precisely twenty films produced in the former Yugoslavian countries as well as Romania, Bulgaria, Italy and Austria were screened in the regional competition. The jury led by Krzysztof Gierat decided to award Grand Prix – Big Stamp to the short, a 17 minutes-long film that at first glance seems to be a reportage shot at the factory’s trip, then turns into a documentation revealing archeological excavations in order to finally bring forth the central core of the film and the real reason of the trip to the Drina river, where around 250 remains were found after the Bosnian war that came to an end 15 years ago. The film entitled “A Day on the Drina” was produced in Bosnia and Herzegovina and now has already been confirmed that this May it will be screened at 52nd Krakow Film Festival.
The most striking is that even though two jury teams (the international and regional) were working independently, both decided to honor films that in many ways are similar. For both of them the starting point is the exemplary situation that would perfectly fit the television news. Here however it provoked the creation of little masterpieces, that convey the message that leaves behind the literal information and still is comprehensible and moving for everyone, regardless of the nationality – Krzysztof Gierat comments.
The jury led by Piotr Złotorowicz on choosing the Best Film of a Young Author was taking into consideration all the films that were made by the filmmakers under 35 years old. Here the Dutch “Testament” by Christian Sonderby Jepsen proved the best. The film that has been already acclaimed the best Dutch documentary at CPH:DOX in Copenhagen is a tragicomic story of three brothers who inherit the fortune from their grandfather. We would like to show this exceptional documentary in Krakow as well – comments Gierat. One of the two special mentions went to Marta Minorowicz for her “Decrescendo”, for finding the right structure for telling this unique story, that is set in the nursery house at Helclów street in Kraków.
The eight edition of Zagreb DOX was held between 26th February and 4th March. 150 films were screened in this year's festival’s programme.