Docs center stage at ZagrebDox, the biggest documentary film festival in the region

The 6th ZagrebDox from 28 February - 7 March on new location - in Movieplex, Kaptol Center / ZagrebDox in numbers: eight days, five theatres, 25 screenings daily, some 140 documentaries / In addition to 'Musical Globe', 'Happy Dox', 'Controversial Dox' and new official program - 'The State of Things' / 'Dox Events' - First-run Movies / Non-competition Programs: Contemporary German Dox, 'Croatian AutoDox', Ante Babaja Retrospective, Y(o)u Nostalgia, 'Factumentaries', documentaries of MA ADU students

For the sixth year in a row, ZagrebDox, the biggest documentary film festival in the region, will make Zagreb the center of current documentary production: during eight festival days, from 28 February to 7 March, some 140 documentaries will find their way to Zagreb audience! The major thing about this year's edition of the festival is its new location - for the first time, it will take place in Movieplex in Kaptol Center. The new venue has been selected in order to provide even better conditions for the audience because it has five theaters with top-notch equipment. As such, it represents an ideal step in the evolution of the festival.

The official international and regional competition programs include 65 films that will compete for the main prize, Big Stamp. Besides three existing programs - Musical Globe, Controversial Dox and Happy Dox - a new addition to the official program is The State of Things program, giving us an unusual insight into the world we live in through documentary stories about the problems from various social spheres.

Side programs include two retrospectives: ‘Modern German Dox', selected by Claas Danielsen, Director of DOK Leipzig Festival, and ‘Croatian AutoDox', selected by Diana Nenadić. This year's Author's Night is dedicated to the recently deceased leading figure of Croatian film, Ante Babaja. Another new feature of this year's festival edition is ‘Y(o)u Nostalgia' program, containing twelve episodes of Igor Stoimenov's ‘Robna kuća' series. As every year, a few Factumentaries will be shown at the festival, as well as two projects of MA Academy of Dramatic Art. While the main prize, Big Stamp, is awarded the films in international and regional competition, Little Stamp will go to a young author of up to 30 years of age. Also, for the second year in a row, Movies That Matter Award will be presented to a film that best promotes human rights. For the fourth year in a row, the award for the best film by audience choice will be presented by our general sponsor T-com.

Another new asset to the festival will be Dox Events, a program of first-run movies that will create additional space for Croatian and regional authors who have chosen ZagrebDox for the world premiere of their documentaries. "In addition to the acclaim of more than 20,000 viewers who came to see the world's best documentaries, ZagrebDox and I received two more recognitions in 2009: one from the documentary professionals and one from the community we work in. European Documentary Network (EDN) presented us with its annual award for ‘outstanding contribution to the development of European documentarist culture', and the Mayor of Zagreb awarded us the Medal of the City of Zagreb for ‘a success beyond all expectations that the festival has made'. However, even greater recognition for us was the requests we received from numerous Croatian and regional authors during preparations for this year's festival: they want their latest films to have their world premiere right here, at ZagrebDox. Accepting this honor, which is an obligation at the same time, we have introduced Dox Events program in which we will show the latest Croatian and regional documentaries, introduce their authors and enable them (due to the more spacious venue) to talk to the audience. This is yet another way for ZagrebDox to pay its debt to authors and viewers without whom the festival would not be possible," said Nenad Puhovski.

"Thus, one of the films to have their world premiere as a part of Dox Events is the musical documentary on Bajaga, one of the best known rock musicians from former Yugoslavia. This program will also include a film about Severina and her Belgrade concert. Controversial Dox will include ‘The Sign of Kain', following Ana Magaš in her attempts to reintegrate into society after serving time in prison; Lana Šarić's ‘Category: Optimist' and Danko Volarić's ‘Mimara Revisited' from the latest factum's production, as well as Željko Mirković's ‘The Long Road - Driving Through Balkan History' with writer Miljenko Jergović as one of the ‘guides'", added Puhovski.

"This year's international competition will again include the winners of relevant international festivals: the winner of IDFA, ‘The Last Train Home' by Chinese director Lixin Fan, follows the hard life of Chinese migrant workers; Swiss ‘The Sound of Insects - Record of a Mummy', the winner European Film Academy's award, tells us an incredible story about a man who starved himself to death; Polish director Pawel Lozinski's ‘Chemo' has received Prix Europa, the most important European TV award. Regional competition includes as many as 24 films: Srđan Šarenac's ‘Village without Woman' iz a black-humor story about three brothers from a Montenegrin village who are trying to maintain their family line. A number of Croatian authors will also present their films at ZagrebDox: Damir Čučić, Ljubica Janković Lazarić, Hrvoje Juvančić, Rasim Karalić and many others. American film 'The Anatomy of Hate: A Dialogue to Hope' from Controversial Dox program offers an unusual approach to ideologies of hate; in 'Slučaj Coca-Cola', the Canadian film playing in The State of Things program, its German directors German Gutiérrez i Carmen Garcia are accusing the said corporation of murdering union leaders. 'Rare Chicken Rescue' is a witty story from Australia; this film about a former breeder of rare chicken species and his current attempts to preserve them has found its way to our Happy Dox program", said Nenad Puhovski, outlining this year's official program.

"This year we decided to make a big step and change the location of the festival events. We did that in order to do even more for our audience. For the first time, the festival events will take place in Kaptol Center's Movieplex theaters. Organizationwise, it is a challenge, but having five theaters at our disposal will add a new quality to the festival. Screenings will be taking place in all theatres simultaneously, thus allowing the viewers a wider choice. We will maintain the tradition of free screenings in one of the theaters and we expect packed audiences again. All other daily screenings will cost HRK 20 and the night ones HRK 25. The ticket prices are the same as the last year and are still lower than average ticket prices in Croatia," underlined Sanja Borčić, Executive Director of ZagrebDox.

"T-Hrvatski Telecom is proud to cooperate with ZagrebDox Documentary Film Festival because, year after year, its high-quality program manages to attract more and more audience. Its quality and its professional approach have won ZagrebDox a relevant place in European scene and the leading documentary festival in the region. The last year's turnout is an additional proof of how attractive the festival's programs and other events are. I would like to point out that this, yet another cooperation of ZagrebDox and T-HT will mark another season of our company's sponsor program KulTurist, designed for promotion of culture and for helping cultural events attract even more audience, encouraging other entrepreneurs to invest in Croatian culture, too," said Maja Weber, Public Relations Director of T-Hrvatski Telecom.

ZagrebDox Festival is organized by FACTUM production house.