ZagrebDox Introduces: Extremists

Vladi Antonevicz, the director of Credit for Murder (Controversial Dox section), was so enthralled by a YouTube clip in which a group of Russian neo-Nazis kill two boys that he spent six years trying to discover who was behind those murders. Antonevicz, a former elite Israeli soldier, made a decision very few directors actually make. He infiltrated among the neo-Nazis, with the idea to ask the killers themselves who was behind the murder.

In Russia there is also a group of young neo-conservative extremist Orthodox activists, led by zealous Dmitry Enteo. His group, tellingly called God’s Will, opposes for instance Pussy Riot or the provocative street art group Voina. Their intention is to lead the world to Eucharistic revolution. The film God’s Will by Beata Bebenec is featured in The Russians Are Coming section.

Reasons behind the western Muslims’ decision to join jihad and extremism, away from home, was the focus of interest of Deeyah Khan, a Norwegian documentarian and human rights activist of Afghan origin. She talked to many former jihadists, including their prominent leaders, and had a direct insight into their motivations. Often angry and almost always alienated and discriminated Deeyah’s interviewees are portrayed in Jihad – A Story of Others, in the Controversial Dox section.

The Érpatak Model by Benny Brunner is a perfect example of how modern-day dictatorship is established. In a small town of Érpatak in the east of Hungary, the Jobbik prefect Mihály Orosz reduces things to the following formula: you either conform to our model and you are a ‘builder’ or you are a ‘destroyer’. And the latter can face different sanctions, including taking their child to protective custody. The film is part of our State of Affairs programme.