The competition is international and regional and features around thirty films which, each in their own way, speak about a series of social issues, phenomena, colourful personalities or fascinating personal tales that had to be told. Sixteen films in international competition compete for the Big Stamp, the official festival award. The films include a broad range of topics, with portraits of impressive individuals like a Syrian doctor managing an underground hospital, the most famous devil’s advocate in Israel, a community of locals from the bottom of the Arctic Sea, as well as a portrait of a café in the middle of Sahara. Following the unusual relationships overcoming social norms and positions, as well as geographic limitations, they take us to the invisible and most vulnerable individuals behind the strong walls of the Iranian oppressive regime, question crime and forgiveness through the destinies of Lithuanian prisoners, criticise mechanisms of political power in a visit to a former gulag in the Arctic circle, as well as Mexico’s health systemthrough the eyes of a family owning a private ambulance service, facing us with the past and through a relationship of the youngest folks speak about the (im)possibility of coexistence in diversity. More here.

*Nun of Your Business

The 14 titles in regional competition include four Croatian films, with a world premiere of Nun of Your Business. In this film director Ivana Marinić Kragić follows two nuns who fall in love and, disappointed by the Church’s response, i.e. abuse inside the institution, decide to leave the convent and start a life together on one Dalmatian island.

Family abuse is also addressed by Đuro Gavran in the film One of Us, revolving around a homecoming anniversary, right before which the director and his former fellow students received a shocking letter with a testimony of a student in which she describes the systematic ongoing abuse she was subject to. The film follows a group of young people trying to face the shocking information shedding a brand new light on their growing up.

A critical overview of the education system and even more on growing up in the age of universal availability and the critique of educational methods of the family he is filming is the comical focus of Neven Hitrec in his film Push-Pull. In this struggle the learning process seems like a contemporary vision of inquisition – with a lot of noise, yelling, manipulative promises and drama.

Another Croatian premiere is Speak So I Can See You by Marija Stojnić – a Croatian-Serbian co-production about Radio Belgrade, a station which, as one of the oldest in Europe and one of the symbols of the city, still broadcasts creative content and helps preserve history, culture and critical thought focusing on the ongoing issues about ourselves and the world.

More on Croatian titles at this year's ZagrebDox here. 

*Waste Land

The festival audience is already able to see films from a retrospective dedicated to Lucy Walker. The line-up is also an introduction into the masterclass The Secrets of Documentary Editing, held by Lucy Walker on Thursday, 8 October at 5pm, also online. A link for taking part in the masterclass will be available at zagrebdox.net.

Lucy Walker is a British film director, an Emmy winner and a two times Oscar nominee. She is known for creating impressive documentaries inspired by real characters, emotionally and narratively captivating. The Hollywood Reporter called her a ‘new Errol Morris’ and Variety praised her exceptional capability of connecting with the audience.

ZagrebDox’s retrospective includes eight of her films: The Lion’s Mouth Opens (2014), Oh, What a Beautiful City (2017), Secrets of the Mongolian Archers (2013), The Crash Reel (2013), The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom (2011), Blindsight (2006), Wolvesmouth (2016) and Waste Land (2010).

The films are available on the Vimeo channel: LINK.

The code for free watching is RETROSPECTIVE.

How to watch films on Vimeo:
- After clicking 'rent', simply register via your Google or Facebook account.
- A window will appear, click 'APPLY PROMO CODE'.
- Enter the code RETROSPECTIVE.
-The Croatian subtitles are activated by pressing the CC button in the video controls.
- Enjoy the films!

Early bird tickets for the special edition of ZagrebDox are on sale! The tickets can be purchased online at www.mojekarte.hr, and from Sunday, 4 October at the festival box office in the SC Cinema lobby (Savska cesta 25).

Still, given the measures related to the current epidemiological situation, we kindly advise you to purchase your tickets online if possible.

All the information on ticket price, sale and festival box office opening hours are available here.