Thursday at ZagrebDox

With half of the 19th ZagrebDox behind us, we are happy to still claim that numerous documentary excitements and reflections are just ahead of us. From the festival showcase today, we are highlighting the unique Italian policeman The Adventures of Gigi the Law (7 p.m., theatre 2) and the Teen Dox section (5 p.m., theatre 5) with a father and son in love with racing (A Mouthful of Petrol), a complicated relationship between twins in an idyllic landscape (Oasis), experiences and street activism of young Ukrainians (Far Away) and efforts to renew their education (When I Grow Up). Two Oscar winners will spice up the film part and Croatian political leaders and Tihomir Ladišić the conversation part on Thursday, but there will also be a Zagreb Film retrospective, Werner Herzog’s new film, the Croatian post-new wave rock scene (with guests from a number of popular bands) and a range of intriguing topics such as Israel’s militarisation of young people and a Croatian fan on the wrong side of the law.

Thursday will start at 3 p.m. with a rerun of Eastern Front (theatre 2) by Yevhen Titarenko and Vitaly Mansky, as well as Ribs by Farah Hasanbegović and Investigator by Viktor Portel (theatre 4). However, all of the above screenings are free today. At the same time, in theatre 5, journalist, editor, TV host and war reporter Tihomir Ladišić will give a masterclass as part of ZagrebDox Pro under the title Conflict Zone on the topic of impartiality, cultural competence, the ability to move, information verification and the loss of colleagues in war reporting.

At 3:30 p.m. in theatre 1, the biographical film Gumbo Coalition is shown, in which the double Oscar winner Barbara Kopple follows two fighters for equality and social justice, Marc Morial and Janet Murguía, in her own engaging style of cinema verite. At the same time, Guy Davidi’s Innocence can be seen in theatre 3, a devastating depiction of the mental and real mobilisation of Israeli children and youth whose thoughts are reconstructed from diaries and home recordings.

At 5 p.m. in theatre 2 in Regional Competition, Josipa Krčelić’s Croatian short film Enemies 86 about a member of the Bad Blue Boys fan group and Mátyás Kálmán's Hungarian-Croatian feature film Paying a Visit to Fortuna about a middle-aged couple who won the lottery could attract attention. After the screening, Mátyás Kálmán will talk to the audience.

In theatre 4, the same slot is reserved for the celebration of 70 years of Zagreb Film under the title Documenting the Wilderness. You will be able see three restored short natural science films by Branko Marjanović (Fox, Submarina and St. James’s Shell) and one by Zvonimir Berković (Ballad of a Rooster), just a small sample from the catalogue of more than 1,400 documentary works of the rich activity of one of the most historically significant Croatian production houses. The screening will be followed by a conversation with biology doctor Dušan Jelić and videographer Sandi Novak about how to safely film wild animals in their habitat, and admission to the event is free.

In theatre 5 at 5 p.m., you shouldn’t miss the last chance for the aforementioned A Mouthful of Petrol, Oasis, Far Away and When I Grow Up from the Teen Dox section.

At 5:30 p.m., another Oscar winner, Laura Poitras, takes the stage with All the Beauty and the Bloodshed (International Competition), a film about the activist and photographer Nan (Nancy) Goldin, paying special attention to her confrontation with the pharmaceutical moguls from the Sackler family. The film was nominated for an Academy Award and is only the second documentary winner of the Venice Golden Lion.

At 5:30 p.m. in theatre 3 there will be an opportunity to rewatch Desire Lines and Karaoke Paradise.

At 7 p.m., followed by a conversation with director Alessandro Comodino, enjoy The Adventures of Gigi the Law (Regional Competition), a village policeman and a passionate gardener faced with a wave of suicides. Despite the macabre synopsis, it is a humorous and poetic film with an amazing protagonist who captures attention, at the same time a work that some critics put in the same sentence with Jacques Tati! Along with the second and last screening of Calling Cabral and Ice under His Feet (International Competition, theatre 4), there will also be a conversation with the director Kiril Nenashev, while in theatre 5 Hamlet Syndrome is screened.

As many as two parallel ZagrebDoXXL events will mark the festival Thursday at 7:30 p.m. In theatre 1, along with the screening of the Croatian film From All the Power (dir. Dimitar Dimitrovski Diba) about the domestic post-New Wave rock scene and independent music labels, a more comprehensive discussion will be held with the author and protagonists of the film – members of Hladno pivo, Kojoti and Overflow, Denyken and Aleksandar Dragaš. In theatre 3, alongside the film Merkel by Eva Weber, a sumptuous portrait of a triple outsider (woman, scientist and East German) who became the first German chancellor and world leader, the panel Women in Politics will be held with the participation including Sandra Benčić, Jadranka Kosor and Katarina Peović, hosted by Ivana Dragičević.

At 9:00 p.m. in theatre 2 in the Master of Dox section, hardly anyone will miss Werner Herzog’s new film The Fire Within: Requiem for Katia and Maurice Krafft, a continuation of the genius’s exploration of the relationship between man and nature based on archival footage of eccentric protagonists – this time passionate volcanologists who, before their death in Japan, took some of the most spectacular footage of volcanic eruptions.

In theatre 4, the Latvian The Land by another legend, Ivars Seleckis, is a new offshoot of Green Dox – a film about five years in the lives of five rural families that encourages thinking about both the future of agriculture and the essence of documentary. In theatre 5, A History of the World According to Getty Images (dir. Richard Misek) and Silent Love (dir. Marek Kozakiewicz) provide an activist study of property, profit and power based on the catalogue of the largest commercial digital photographic repository, and a family story about a conservative teenager, an older sister who he takes care of him after the death of his mother and her girlfriend in a homophobic Polish environment.

At 10 p.m. in theatre 1, the melodious Irish North Circular will be screened, and in theatre 3 When Spring Came to Bucha will conclude the intense festival Thursday.