'Returns' and 'A Day on the Drina' win Big Stamps of 8th ZagrebDox!

The 8th ZagrebDox was officially closed in Movieplex tonight: Polish film 'Returns' by Krzysztof Kadlubowski won Big Stamp in International Competition and Bosnian film 'A Day on the Drina' by Ines Tanović won the same award in Regional Competition. Little Stamp for Best Film by an author of up to 35 years of age went to the Danish film 'The Will' (by Christian Sønderby Jepsen) and Movies that Matter Award was presented to Tatiana Huezo for her Mexican film 'The Tinniest Place'. Our newly introduced My Generation Award went to the Dutch film 'People I Could Have Been and Maybe Am' by Boris Gerrets.

Festival director Nenad Puhovski greeted the visitors: "At the very beginning we promised to try to make the festival a bit better, more comprehensive and more versatile. I think we have come close to that goal: the attendance rate is higher and viewers are happier. Most importantly, audiences were packed and viewers discussed and commented on films after screenings. We are happy for this festival and are proud of it, but we have enough strength and will to make it even better".

This year, My Generation Award was given at ZagrebDox for the first time. The festival's founder and director Nenad Puhovski selected the winner himself among the films of the authors of his generation. The first winner of this award is the documentary 'People I Could Have Been and Maybe Am' by Boris Gerrets. "The award is given to a film that transcends the line between sophisticated visuality and simple technology, between faction and fiction, between an observer and the observed – in short, a great film", Puhovski explained his choice.

The winner of Movies that Matter Award, given to a film that best promotes human rights, was selected by the jury consisting of Nadežda Čačinovič, university professor and president of P.E.N., Taco Ruighaver, Director of Movies That Matter Foundation, and Zdravko Grebo, university professor and NGO activist. Their special mention went to German film 'Bad Weather'. Its director Giovanni Giommi was a guest of the festival. He dedicated his award to the protagonists of the film, the women of Banishanta Island.

The main award went to Mexican film 'The Tinniest Place' by Tatiana Huezo. Nadežda Čačinović explained the jury's decision: "This beautifully photographed film talks about the life of the people of a small town in the rural area of El Salvador in the wake of the civil war. By showing their hard work and their painful memories and traumas of war, the author avoids seeing them (only) as victims; she portraits them as strong and, sometimes, joyful persons".

Little Stamp is awarded by Young Jury to the best film by an author of up to 35 years of age. This year's Young Jury consisted of film director Piotr Zlotorowicz, film director and professor at Danish Film School Torben Simonsen and Jadran Puharić, postgraduate student of Documentary Film at ADU. Little Stamp went to Danish film 'The Will' by Christian Sønderby Jepsen. It was awarded to a film in which "the authors blended in the story and connected with the characters in a very realistic way", as the jury officially explained. Special mentions in this category were given to Lithuanian film 'Shanghai Banzai' by Jurate Samulionyte and Polish film 'Decrescendo' by Marta Minorowicz.

Regional Jury consisted of Krzysztof Gierat, director of Krakow Film Festival, and film directors Marianna Kaat and Vanja Sviličić. They gave special mentions to two Croatian documentaries: 'Bosanoga (an Entirely Accidental Death)' by Morana Komljenović, who thanked the jury for showing her that she had not been wrong when spending long time chasing ghosts in the city of Rijeka, and to 'Family Meals' by Dana Budisavljević, who dedicated the award to her parents. Big Stamp in Regional Competition went to Bosnian-Herzegovinian film 'A Day on the Drina' by Ines Tanović.

As Krzysztof Gierat explained on behalf of Regional Jury, "what at first glance seems like a simple report unexpectedly grows to a cinematographic masterpiece, not only showing us the tragic history of Bosnian War, but also witnessing the shocking effects of all wars". Ines Tanović expressed her gratitude to ZagrebDox, Nenad Puhovski and the jury whose award had put additional life to her film and had drawn attention to the focus of the film: solving war crimes.

Our distinguished film director Tomislav Radić presided over the International Jury. Its other members were Truls Lie, editor-in-chief of DOX magazine, and Alexander Gutman, film director. The jury declared winners in the International Competition: special mentions were given to Polish film 'Paparazzi' by Piotr Bernas and Latvian-Georgian film 'Ramin' by Audrius Stonys, and Big Stamp was awarded to Polish film 'Returns' by Krzysztof Kadlubowski. "In only seven minutes, the short film “Return” has everything – the visual form giving the content. A real-life documentary about the ritual of a state funeral at Warsaw airport, without the need of voices to explain", said Tomislav Radić on behalf of the jury.

After the award-presentation ceremony, Đuro Gavran's film 'Big Day' was shown. On Sunday, 4 March, from 2pm to 10pm, our special program The Best of Fest will be shown. It includes the films awarded at the 8th ZagrebDox. Best Film Audience Choice Award will be presented in Auditorium No. 3 at 8pm. The award is sponsored by Hrvatski Telekom.