ZagrebDox: Nineteenth Edition Coming Up!

The last publicly spoken phrase at the end of each festival is usually the first spoken ahead of the new festival edition: The preparations already began last year, with the last day of the previous Festival. Subtleties change, but the essence is always the same: a festival takes an entire year to prepare. The last months are only for the finishing touches. ZagrebDox is no exception; quite the contrary, it wonderfully testifies to the truthfulness of the previous sentence.

Less than a year ago, the European Film Academy included ZagrebDox among the chosen few elite world festivals whose films compete for the annual award in the documentary film category of this European umbrella institution. Thirty-seven festivals from all over the world, proudly including ZagrebDox, greatly define the documentary scene and it is therefore no wonder that as many as fifteen films completed for one slot in the ZagrebDox 2023 selection. Many outstanding entries were submitted (almost 1500!), causing sweet worries to the selection team, presided since day one by the founder and director of ZagrebDox, Nenad Puhovski.

“Since completion of documentaries was somewhat slower in the past period due to the pandemic, this year we had a handful of truly amazing documentaries and the selection process was long and complicated. This is perhaps best proved by the fact that we decided to bring back the extremely popular sections Music Dox and Happy Dox. On the other hand, the growing popularity of documentaries is probably best illustrated by the crowded Masters section with films by Herzog, Ivory, Schlöndorff… As always, we screen the documentaries that have won the most awards during the past season, like the Golden Lion winner from Venice, Laura Poitras’s All the Beauty and the Bloodshed. There are also recently made films which will only yet premiere at ZagrebDox, like Vitaly Mansky’s Eastern Front, eagerly expected at the Berlinale. Last but not least, ZagrebDox this year continues its commitment to Croatian documentary with as many as 20 latest films,” said Nenad Puhovski.

The 19th edition of ZagrebDox will take place at all five Kaptol Boutique Cinema & Bar theatres from 26 March to 2 April. In addition to over a hundred outstanding entries, we are looking forward to numerous guests, side events, panels and interviews or, in a nutshell, a documentary film festival in all its colours, durations, themes and artistic accomplishments. This year’s edition of ZagrebDox will be largely audience-oriented, since last year they showed how much they love documentaries on the big screen despite all the changes brought by the streaming service era.

As we speak, ZagrebDox’s documentary selection for 2023 is getting its final outlines, but its visual identity, again designed by the Studio Šesnić&Turković, has been ready for some time. This year our creative talents reached for the very foundations of the festival. The colours are recognisable, and the key element is underlines and anchored in every ZagrebDox’s trademark must-have: the opening credits Rubik’s cube.

The 19th ZagrebDox is approaching and its only desire is to screen the finest documentaries from all over the world.