The 19th ZagrebDox International Documentary Festival runs from March 26th to April 2nd. Every year the festival shows the best international and Balkan documentaries. This year 116 films will be screened, including 20 in the International Competition and 20 in the Regional Competition.
Among the films in the International Competition, Zaynê Akyol’s Rojek is a series of interviews recording the motivations and beliefs of members of the Islamic State currently in prison in Syrian Kurdistan. The Regional Competition highlights contemporary films from the Balkans. Gorana Jovanović’s short film Balls (Serbia, Slovenia) focuses on football stadiums in former Yugoslavia, where violence is increasing. For 10 years now a football tournament has been organized in Sarajevo in the name of peace. In the same vein, Damir Markovina’s Deserters (Croatia) gives voice to the inhabitants of Mostar who lived through the war when they were in high school.
As well as these screenings the festival organises discussions, round tables and masterclasses. This year five themes will be addressed, including discrimination against transgender people and solidarity with refugees. Researchers, members of associations and film-makers come together to pursue and deepen the issues covered by the films.
The whole programme is available on the festival web-site ZagrebDox.
Sources: ZagrebDox, Film New Europe
