Juries 2008

International Jury

Petar Krelja, director - president of the jury

Petar Krelja was born in Štip, Macedonia, in 1940. He is a Croatian documentary filmmaker, a film critic and film editor at the Channel 1 of Croatian Radio (former Radio Zagreb). He obtained his grade in Comparative Literature at the Zagreb School of the Humanities and Social Sciences. He has been a filmmaker since late 1960s. His documentary films are emotionally engaged and talk about social outsiders, particularly children and young people ('Povratak', 1975; 'Prihvatna stanica', 1977); about unusual social and psychological phenomena (‘Ponude pod broj’, 1969; ‘Coprnice’, 1971) and social-critical topics (‘Recital’, 1972; ‘Splendid Isolation’, 1973). In the nineties, he focused on the life stories of displaced persons and other victims of war (such as ‘Zoran Šipuš i njegova Jasna’, 1992; ‘Suzanin osmijeh’, 1993). His best known feature film is 'Train Toward South' (1981), a comedy about the people living in Novi Zagreb housing projects. He occasionally directed documentary programs for TV Zagreb and is now directing documentaries for HRT.

Asano Fujiko, film programmer

Born 1970 in Yamagata City, Japan. Asano Fujiko was fascinated by cinemas ince she was a high school student. After studying in Canada and the U.S., she worked at the Yamagata Documentary Film Library in Yamagata for two years. Since 1999 she has served on a coordinator for the International Competition program at YIDFF. Currently, she left the YIDFF and established her own company Chimney Inc. Worked at YIDFF2007 and Tokyo International Film Festival (TIFF) 2007.

Alina Rudnickaja, director

Alina Rudnitskaya obtained her degree in Film Direction at the Art and Culture University in Sankt Petersburg. She started her career as an assistant director in the Documentary Film Studio. Her first films had a warm reception in Russia and abroad and were awarded at many festivals – in Madrid, Berlin, Oberhausen, Belgrade, Moscow. Her film 2005 film 'Civil Status' (Grajdanskoe sostoyanie) was awarded at third ZagrebDox. Alina Rudnitskaya lives and works in Sankt Petersburg. Selected films: ‘Besame mucho’ (2006), ‘Civil Status’ (2005), ‘Rural Lessons’ (2004), ‘Amazons’ (2003), ‘Communal Residence’ (2002), ‘Driving Mad’ (2002). 

Regional Jury

Isabel Arrate Fernandez, coordinator of the Jan Vrijman fund

Born in 1970, Isabel Arrate Fernandez gained a Masters Degree in 1996 at the University of Amsterdam. She worked for the Latin American Film Festival for Film and Literature in Rotterdam. After her studies she started working for the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA). From 2000 to 2002 she was employed by Film Investors Netherlands. Since 2002 she has been in charge of the IDFA Jan Vrijman Fund, which was created to generate more attention for documentaries from developing countries. As its coordinator she has participated in several juries and as a consultant in panels and workshops in developing countries.

Želimir Žilnik, director

Želimir Žilnik was born in 1942. He is based in Novi Sad, Serbia. From the late 60s, his socially engaged films and documentaries in former Yugoslavia and his unique visual style earned him critical accolades, but also censorship in the 70s for his unflinching criticism of the government apparatus. Low budget filmmaking and challenging political themes mark Zilnik’s prolific career that includes over 40 feature and documentary films and shorts. Since the 1980s, he has been developing his unique docudrama language, which he used throughout 1990s to reflect on political tensions, including EU sanctions, the NATO bombings, and Milosevic’s regime. More recently, his focus has shifted beyond the divided Balkans to question its relationship with the tightening controls of European borders.

Mima Simić, film critic and activist

Mima Simić is a writer, a street and academic activist, a struggling rock star and, in the past years, a film critic. She is a proud owner of a master’s degree in gender studies. Her film analyses were published in various programs of Croatian Radio, in Croatian Film Yearbook, Feral Tribune weekly, Treća, zarez, Internet portals h-alter. org, cunterview.net and similar non-profit, but prestigious media. In 2007, she received the Vladimir Vuković Award. In her spare time, she combs her cats and dreams about singing on the Eurosong. Igor Zelić Igor Zelić was born in Koper, Slovenia, in 1983. After primary education in Umag, he attended secondary school of graphic art in Zagreb. At the same time he attended a film course organized by Zagreb Cinema Club. In 2002, he enrolled Film and TV Camera at the Zagreb Academy for Drama Arts. He is an undergraduate now, eligible for his degree finals. He worked as a cinematographer for a number of stage productions and was the director of photography of Kazalište u kući comedy series. In 2007 he made an experimental film titled Untitled, of which he was a complete author. He took part in many photograph exhibitions in Croatia.

Young Jury

Igor Zelić, director

Igor Zelić was born in Koper, Slovenia, in 1983. After primary education in Umag, he attended secondary school of graphic art in Zagreb. At the same time he attended a film course organized by Zagreb Cinema Club. In 2002, he enrolled Film and TV Camera at the Zagreb Academy for Drama Arts. He is an undergraduate now, eligible for his degree finals. He worked as a cinematographer for a number of stage productions and was the director of photography of Kazalište u kući comedy series. In 2007 he made an experimental film titled Untitled, of which he was a complete author. He took part in many photograph exhibitions in Croatia.

Nikola Strašek, director

Nikola Strašek was born in Zagreb. He is about to finish his studies of the Film and TV Direction at the Zagreb Academy of Drama Art. His 2007 student work, documentary Ubil bum te! Was shown at the last year’s edition of ZagrebDox, Sarajevo Film Festival, in New York’s Lincoln Center, and received a few awards. He is currently working on his medium-length feature film Veliki Ivo.

Irena Čurik, dramaturg

Irena Čurik is about to complete her studies of drama at ADU in Zagreb. She is equally active in theater (Je n’ais plus d’idées, Judith French), film (Untitled, Vip Movies, Filmski.net) and theory (Kazalištarije, Kulturpunkt, Lider).

Critic's Jury

Phillip Bergson, film critic

Phillip Bergson is British film critic. As a student of Balliol College, Bergson founded the Oxford Film Festival and became its programme director. It was the first festival competition in the UK to be acknowledged by FIAPF. After graduation, he was selected by the Sunday Times as a ‘New Critic’. He regularly contributed to various BBC radio programmes and wrote film reviews for British and foreign magazines. He was also an occasional actor (e.g. appearing alongside Jeremy Irons in the TV series Brideshead Revisited). He worked for the European Script Fund and, as a member of the British Critics’ Circle and FIPRESCI, he sat on international juries at various festivals (e.g. in Riga, Leipzig, Geneva, Brussels, Thessaloniki, Cannes, Berlin and Karlovy Vary). He works as a consultant for the National Museum of Photography, Film and Television in his native Yorkshire.

Pamela Bienzobas, film critic

Pamela Bienzobas is a Chilean critic and journalist based in France. She writes mainly for ‘Revista de Cine Mabuse.cl’ and ‘Diario La Tercera’. She is the vice-president of FIPRESCI. Tomislav Čegir Tomislav Čegir was born in Zagreb in 1970. He obtained a degree in History and Art History at the Zagreb School of the Humanities and Social Sciences. He writes about film and visual arts and is a regular contributor of a number of magazines and Croatian radio Television. He writes film reviews in Vijenac and Croatian Film Yearbook. He is currently writing essays on the history of Croatian documentary film for the book Croatian Film Directors: from Oktavijan Miletić to Nikola Tanhofer, to be published by Croatian Film Critics’ Association.

Tomislav Čegir, film critic

Tomislav Čegir was born in Zagreb in 1970. He obtained a degree in History and Art History at the Zagreb School of the Humanities and Social Sciences. He writes about film and visual arts and is a regular contributor of a number of magazines and Croatian radio Television. He writes film reviews in Vijenac and Croatian Film Yearbook. He is currently writing essays on the history of Croatian documentary film for the book Croatian Film Directors: from Oktavijan Miletić to Nikola Tanhofer, to be published by Croatian Film Critics’ Association.

The Amnesty Jury

Diana Nenadić, film critic

Diana Nenadić was born in Zagreb in 1962. She made her grade in Political Science in Zagreb. She is an editor of Croatian Radio’s broadcasts on film, a film columnist of Vijenac, the editor-in-chief of Zapis, and an editor in Croatian Film Yearbook. She works in Croatian Film Association. She is the only film critic who has received Vladimir Vuković Award twice (the second time in 2006).

Vesna Teršelič, activist

Vesna Teršelič is director of Documenta - Center for Dealing with the Past, Zagreb. She formerly was Director of the Centre for Peace Studies in Zagreb and coordinator of Antiwar Campaign Croatia and a lecturer in peace and women’s studies. Her activist work focuses on linking peacebuilding and dealing with the past. She has wide practical experience as a trainer and facilitator in conflict situations, mostly in post-Yugoslav countries. Vesna Teršelić has been a Nobel Prize nominee (1997) and Right Livelihood Award Laureate (1998) and her publications include handbooks on facilitation and mediation.

Oliver Sertić, media activist, producer and journalist

Oliver Sertić is a media activist, producer and journalist, writing and editing in press, on web, radio and television. He directed a few awarded short documentaries. He is a co-founder of the Review of Amateur Film – RAF. Sertić works a s a PR, producer and consultant for a number festivals in the region (ZFF, Dorf, Dokufest, MUVI...). He is the selector of Liburnia Film Festival and of the documentary program of Vukovar Film Festival. Sertić co-founded Attack, Cross-radio and Clubture. He writes for REZ Magazine and is currently preparing a new documentary.