11th ZagrebDox winners announced

International Competition

INTERNATIONAL JURY
Vinko Brešan
Ágnes Sós
Hans Robert Eisenhauer

BIG STAMP
For Best Film in International Competition

VIRUNGA
dir. Orlando von Einsiedel, Great Britain

Orlando von Einsiedel’s film tells the dramatic story of four characters fighting to protect the Virunga National Park, a Unesco world heritage site, which is the home of many of the world’s last 800 mountain gorillas. The chief warden Emmanuel de Merode, park ranger Rodrigue Katembo, gorilla caretaker André Bauma and the young French journalist Melanie Gouby risk their lives struggling against poaching, the threat of illegal oil exploitation and heavily armed rebels. In a region weakened by a bloody history and war, the park gives hope for stability and peace to people and animals in danger to vanish. But it is threatened by a web of bribery, corruption and violence from outside, fueled by the official permit for the British company Secco International to search for oil at the park’s lake Edward. Orlando von Einsiedel, Virunga is his first feature-length documentary, had originally the intention to document the progress of the environmental and economical situation of the region in Eastern Congo and especially the role of the National Park. But after three weeks of shooting, the conflict with the rebels began again. Together with the fearless investigative journalist Melanie Gouby he investigates the role of the oil company in the conflict, a very risky enterprise for the characters of the film, the director and his crew. Virunga is a unique document of the ongoing political and environmental crisis in Congo. It is shocking, heartbreaking and unforgettable. The film is also a fantastic example for the power of documentary films. A compelling story, great characters, exclusive access, fearless shooting, terrific editing and postproduction on the highest level are the ingredients for this masterpiece.

SPECIAL MENTIONS

GARDEN LOVERS / EEDENISTÄ POHJOISEEN
dir. Virpi Suutari, Finland

The Finnish feature-length documentary film Garden Lovers by Virpi Suutari is a multi-faceted, brilliantly directed story about gardens of different married couples and their love for agriculture. But not only. The director and writer Suutari uses exceptionally subtle directing procedures to introduce us to a gallery of characters of different generations, different professions, ideas on life. Through the story of gardens, we in fact watch a story of love, respect, generational gap, sickness, crime, death… In a contrast between humor and introspective silence, the film finally achieves a high level of emotions. Garden Lovers is a film after which one gets an impression of knowing the Finnish people, their way of thinking, their culture and civilization.

SOMETHING BETTER TO COME
dir. Hanna Polak, Denmark

One of the special mention’s goes to the film Something Better to Come. The film takes our hands and allows us to immerse into a world we would otherwise never like to learn about. Thanks to the director’s hard work, her empathy, her intimate and authentic approach, the outstanding human values of this world are revealed. It is a heart-breaking example of human persistence under incredibly difficult circumstances. A film that won’t leave you untouched.

Regional Competition

REGIONAL JURY
Heino Deckert
Marius Iacob
Ivana Simić Bodrožić

BIG STAMP
For Best Film in Regional Competition

CAIN'S CHILDREN/ KÁIN GYERMEKEI
dir. Marcell Gerö, Hungary, France

In a strong competition of 18 documentary films, the three-member jury consisting of Heino Deckert (producer), Marius Iacob (director) and Ivana Simić Bodrožić (writer) decide to present the main award to the film Cain’s Children by Hungarian director Marcell Gerö. Aside from the fact that it meets the high professional criteria, this film portrays a shocking and touching story of the boys who killed their loved ones. Without judging or teaching them, the director offers us a different point of view. In a long timeframe, he follows the boys who served sentences for murder and after 30 years we find them on the margins of the society. From the starting point in the present, the story takes both directions; one reaches to the past and the childhood abuse of the protagonists, and the other to their future, following their children whose chances of a better life are pretty slim. Also, this is a story of trans-generational misfortune, a story inspiring us to think about the limited possibilities of choice of people surrounding us, often forsaken by everyone. We believe this is an important film, not only on the regional, but also on the universal human level.

SPECIAL MENTION

RUSSIAN / RUS
dir. Damir Ibrahimović, Eldar Emrić, Bosnia and Herzegovina

The same jury agreed to single out the film Russian by Bosnian and Herzegovinian director Damir Ibrahimović and award it with a special mention. The original storytelling of individual, tragic, human destiny in a way reveals how the director grasped much wider and deeper into this region, playing with fiction, psychodrama and the unknown side of a famous director through the story of his son.

***

YOUNG JURY
Carlo Zoratti
Hrvoje Mabić
Jelena Pašić

LITTLE STAMP
For Best Film of a Young Author up to 35 Years of Age

ANOTHER HUNGARY – THE LIFE OF A VILLAGE – FRAGMENTS / MÁSIK MAGYARORSZÁG - TÖREDÉKEK EGY FALU HÉTKÖZNAPJAIBÓL
dir. Dénes Nagy, Hungary

The beauty of a film is when it does not offer single-handed and express answers, but shows the complexity of reality by revealing extremes and points where they collide. Another Hungary is a film about imagination, about different views of reality. Through the perspectives of two generations in a post-transitional Hungarian village in decline, this film intelligently and subtly raises many questions on political and cultural changes caused by the transition in Central and Eastern Europe.

SPECIAL MENTION
to an author up to 35 years of age

VERUDA – A FILM ABOUT BOJAN / VERUDA - FILM O BOJANU
dir. Igor Bezinović, Croatia

The special mention goes to a film that doesn’t indulge with the tools of crafting. The least mannerist of all the films in competition, it manages to bring construction back to the start. This movie is so rudimentary to become almost futuristic and its character is so radical that tells life not as it is, but as we expect it to be. Veruda deserves a special mention for questioning both the ethical value of documentary and the audience’s voyeuristic perversion.

Movies That Matter

MOVIES THAT MATTER JURY
Vitaly Mansky
Tamara Erde
Ana Matan

MOVIES THAT MATTER AWARD
For film that promotes human rights in a best way

RICH HILL
dir. Tracy Droz Dragos, Andrew Droz Palermo, USA

For its delicate, sensible, unique and carefully chosen insight and vision.
For being human in its theme but also behind the camera: we felt the humanity of its filmmakers in every choice.
And for reminding us that human issues and problems are also present right next door and are always worth revisiting.


SPECIAL MENTION

VIRUNGA
dir. Orlando von Einsiedel, Great Britain

For being an extremely well done and important film on an extremely important issue.
For its touching message that is thus capable of making things change.

Teen Dox

TEEN DOX JURY
Pupils of Private Art Gymnasium in Zagreb
Zoja Begović, Sven Čohadžić, Juraj Franolić, Andrej Kozina, Josip Markić, Mihaela Matijević, Doris Mimica, Fran Mišetić, Tin Ožbolt, Ava Palčok, Nika Petković, Matej Petrić, Luka Premer, Nika Reicher, Vedran Vincetić

TEEN DOX AWARD
for best film about issues concerning the young

MAIDENTRIP
dir. Jillian Schlesinger, USA

The film protagonist and her actions inspire her generation to fulfil their goals in life and raises the grown-ups’ awareness of the fact that young people too can be mature and responsible. The film’s original scenes draw the audience into interaction with themselves and familiarises them with the situation on the screen. She inspired us to question our skilfulness in such or similar situation. We chose this film because it showed that not everything is as limited as it seems in today’s world.