Juries 2007

International Jury

Arunas Matelis, director and producer

Arunas Matelis was born in 1961 in Lithuania. He studied several years in the mathematics department at Vilnius University facility and later graduated from the Lithuanian Music Academy, department of Theatre and Television. In 1992 Matelis established one of the first independent film production companies in Lithuania called Nominum. He directed nine short documentaries, one feature documentary and produced about twenty films. His films were awarded or presented in many international film festivals around the world such as Amsterdam (IDFA), Leipzig, Cannes (Directors’ fortnight and Critics’ Week), Rotterdam, Oberhausen, Torino, San Paulo, European Film Academy, ZagrebDox and others. He is chairman of the documentary guild of the Lithuanian filmmakers union. Arunas is also the Minister of Migration and Changes in the Republic of Uzupis (Uzupis - the bohemian district of Vilnius, similar to Montmartre in Paris). His late film ‘Before Flying Back to the Earth’ (2005) won Big Stamp Award for best film in International Competition Program at ZagrebDox 2006.

Mirsad Purivatra, director of Sarajevo Film Festival

At the end of the 1980’s, as director of the Sarajevo Obala Art Center Mirsad Purivatra oversaw the works of numerous theater productions. Many of them, including 'Tatoo Theatre' and 'Moonplay', were featured in theatre festivals in Edinburgh, Paris, Toronto, New York, Montreal, and London. During the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Center organized a great number of exhibitions by BiH authors that were shown around the world and in Sarajevo. Obala hosted such international artists as Christian Boltanski, Annie Leibowitz, Sophie Ristelhueber, and Peter Waldegg. In 1995 Obala established the Sarajevo Film Festival, which in twelve years has grown to be one of the most influential film festivals in southeast Europe. Today, working full time as the Sarajevo Film Festival Director, Purivatra also teaches Production at the Sarajevo Academy of Performing Arts. He has also served as Director of Bosnia and Herzegovina Radio and Television (1998-2000), and General Director of the B&H branch of McCann Erickson marketing agency (2000-2004).

Ivana Milošević, director and producer

Born in 1976 in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. Graduated in humanities at the Charles University and documentary film direction at FAMU in Prague. Her professional experience includes: production and direction of documentary films and reportages and since 2003 she is co-ordinator for the Institute of Documentary Film (IDF) in Prague. Managing Ex Oriente Film (a yearly workshop for independent documentary film producers), the East European Forum (a Pitching forum for Eastern European docs), and working also on East Silver DocsMarket (market for East European documentary), Documentary Internet (interactive web pages for film professionals), the East European Documentary Film Library and other IDF activities.
 

Regional Jury

Branko Lentić, director, journalist and TV editor

Branko Lentić - journalist and TV editor - was born in 1938. He studied law in Zagreb. Lentić worked at Zagreb TV from 1966, first as a collaborator, and then as a editor and an author of youth shows and documentary series ‘Objektiv 350’. He was chief editor at Zagreb TV from 1969 to 1972, the period when program advanced the most and when they introduced game shows, filmed some of the most popular narrative series and integrated informative program. After Croatian Spring breakdown he was forced to resign. From 1972 he worked as an author and made over 200 documentary films: ‘Grga’ (1967), ‘Zagreb – bijeli grad’ (1968), ‘Dinamitaši’ (1973), ‘Jozo i drugi’ (1974), ‘Bit ćeš velik’ (1975), ‘Bič s dva kraja’ (1976), ‘Mjesto koje hoće živjeti’ (1976), ‘14 gnjevnih’ (1978), ‘Živjeti vukovarske slike’ (2001) and others, which were shown at many international television stations. He is one of the founders of ‘Alpe-Dunav-Jadran’ TV show. He was also a president of International Co-production Consortium, and those documentary films were bought by lots of TV companies. Lentić was also a jury member at lots of international and Croatian film festivals and a first chief manager of Croatian National TV (HRT; 1990-1992), retired from the year 2003. His films won many awards at European film festivals, and he also won year award of the International Committee for TV twice and he got Croatian Journalists’ Association Award for Life Achievement – ‘Otokar Keršovani’ in 2002.

Nedžad Begović, director and screenwriter

Nedžad Begović was born in 1958. He is a film director and a scriptwriter. As a professional he realized 20 animated, documentary and short films, as well as 30 episodes of TV series for children. The Ministry of Culture for Bosnia and Herzegovina awarded him with the title of the independent artist in 1989. He has collaborated with ARTE Channel, Swiss TV, ZDF, Point du jour and worked as the assistant director/consultant and casting manager in numerous world film productions. His films have been presented in more than 250 cities worldwide. 2005 he has finished his first feature film ‘Totaly Personal’, that premiered at Tribeca Film Festival. Begović also won nine medals for his inventions...

Đurđa Knežević, feminist, editor of Women’s Infoteka, chief editor of ‘Bread and Roses’

Đurđa Knežević was born in 1952, Croatia. At the University of Zagreb she studied History and Archeology. For more than twenty years she has been active in the women’s movement and organizations in Croatia. At the beginning of the war in 1991 she joined Antiwar Campaign of Croatia as one of the founders and soon after established Zagreb’s Women Lobby and subsequently the Center for Women War Victims. In 1992 Đurđa founded Women’s Infoteka - Women’s Information and Documentation Center in Zagreb and developed publishing of the Magazine 'Bread and Roses' where she is chief editor. 'Bread and Roses' is the only feminist magazine in Croatia. During all these years Đurđa Knežević published articles, essays, interviews. She mostly wrote articles concerning women’s issues but also articles, essays and reviews on history and about the peace processes in former Yugoslavia. Many of them are translated and published in feminist magazines in Germany, Italy, USA, Austria, Russia, Czech Republic, Hungary and some other countries.

Young Jury

Luka Rukavina

Luka Rukavina was born in 1981 in Zagreb. He is currently finishing his studies at Academy of Drama Arts in Zagreb. He has worked as dramatist in student and professional plays (mostly in &TD theater), as a screenwriter on different TV soaps, realities and sitcoms, and co-worked on a low budget trash film ‘Dogma #13’. In 2006 he directed two commercials and short film ‘U tišini’.

Tamara Babun

Tamara Babun was born in 1985 in Zagreb. She studies production at Academy of Drama Arts in Zagreb. In 2001 she spent one month in USA on an Open Society Institute scholarship. She is one of the organizers of Film Festival of Drama Arts Academy (2005). Occasionally works as a production assistant for commercials and documentary films and translates from English. At the moment she is preparing a short narrative film at the Academy and she’s convinced that she co-works on two documentary films. In her spare time she’s immature and plays smart.

Una Radić

Una Radić was born in Zagreb in 1982. She leaned toward art from her childhood so she enrolled Academy of Drama Arts in Zagreb, Film and TV direction. She is inventive and complicated for ones who don’t understand her, and creates her film expression no matter of the authorities. Her short film ‘Uputstvo za upotrebu’ was shown last year at New York Film Festival. In spare time she does gardening. If you ask her to describe her future job she’ll tell you: ‘Only mediocrities progress in arts’. That is why she plans on becoming an entrepreneur.