17. Free Zone Film Festival / 6.11.2021. / 10.30

10.30 The Gig Is Up (doc.)
Director: Shannon Walsh
Country: France, Canada
Year: 2021.
Runtime: 88’
Language: English
Production: Intuitive Pictures, Films du Balibari, Les, Les Films du Point du Jour

EU: ZONE OF CHANGE

SYNOPSIS
The gig economy, an ultra-modern phenomenon, is actually a freelance labor market worth five trillion dollars worldwide! Millions of people work online in systems that are considered the best representation of what many sociologists call or describe as “digital feudalism.”
Workers from Uber, Amazon and many other platforms state what the reality is and how different it is from the promise of independence and control over their working hours and income.
Risky working conditions, a salary that changes without notice, irrevocable layoffs due to bad grades or layoffs without notice by deactivating an account on the work platform are just some of the problems. Portraing people caught in these situations, the documentary shows that the “magic of technology” can actually be just an illusion.

DIRECTOR’S BIOGRAPHY
Shannon Walsh has written and directed the feature documentaries, The Gig is Up (2021), Illusions of Control (2019), Jeppe on a Friday (2013), À St-Henri, Le 26 aout (2011) i H2Oil (2009), as well as numerous short films and VR works. Shannon’s films have been broadcast, theatrically-released and exhibited in film festivals globally. Her work has also screened in museum spaces, including the Venice Biennale and the Pompidou Centre in Paris. Shannon is an Associate Professor at the University of British Columbia. She is a 2020-2021 Guggenheim Fellow.

FESTIVALS AND AWARDS
CPH:DOX 2021
Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival 2021
Dokufest International Documentary and Short Film Festival 2021

13.30 Naše razlike su naša snaga + Future is Here I r. grupa autora

Bushi (doc.)
Directors: Hana Sedolli, Ben Gorani
Country: Kosovo*
Year: 2021.
Runtime: 15’
Language: Albanian
Subtitles: Serbian
Production: DokuFest

FUTURE IS HERE

SYNOPSIS:
A daughter left fatherless, a film that addresses the cases of the missing people in Kosovo*. A story about trauma and the kidnapping of an innocent man by Serbian military forces that left him presumed missing until this day.

DIRECTORS’ BIOGRAPHY:
Hana Sedolli is a student , born in 2003 Prizren, Kosovo*. She is passionate about documentary filmmaking and topics about war and the history of her country, this is her first experience in filmmaking.
Ben Gorani is a student, born in 2003 Prishtina, Kosovo*. He is a teenager who’s passionate about directing and the film industry. This is his first filmmaking experience.

Lokja (doc.)
DirectorJon Nila
Country: Kosovo*
Year: 2021.
Runtime: 6’
Cast: HabibeTullariKrasniqi (lokja)
Language: Albanian
Subtitles: Serbian
Production: DokuFest

FUTURE IS HERE

SYNOPSIS:
An experimental yet touching short documentary, centered around the director’s grandma, and her enchanting battle with stage one Alzheimers Disease. Packed with an according soundtrack, and background on Lokja’s dearest memories, the film strives to show the beauty in our past, present and future, and the appreciation for it that we may lack, until it’s too late for reflection.

DIRECTOR’S BIOGRAPHY:
Jon Nila born in 2004, is a high school student from Peja. Whilst being but a young film student, he strives to tell stories through using an excessive amount of copyrighted music. This is his second film.

An Epitaph for the Forgotten (doc.)
Director:AdemTutić
Country: Srbija
Year: 2021
Runtime: 25’04’’
Langauge: Serbian
Subtitles: English
Production: Slobodna zona Junior(Fond B92)

Logline
Through language and words, by mentioning and remembering, the poet pays homage to the forgotten people from Novi Pazar, Jews.

Synopsis
The Jewish cemetery in Novi Pazar, neglected and forgotten for almost eight decades, has been reconstructed for the first time.
After the Holocaust, no one cared about that cemetery anymore. The people of Novi Pazar have lost the memory of their fellow cititens, the Jews of Novi Pazar, who once lived in that city. Several people have preserved their memory, among them is the poet ŠabanŠarenkapić, who has been dealing with this topic for years through his poetry and prose. His goal is to show how to treat the remnants of one’s eternity. Disappointed with the condition of the cemetery and the negligence of his fellow citizens, he did not visit the cemetery for years.
For the first time in a long time, ŠabanŠarenkapić and the gathered citizens visit this cemetery and find it in its dignified condition.

Author’s statement
The greatest sin of one man is to support injustice and oblivion with silence. With this film, I would like to erect a monument to my forgotten fellow citizens.

About the author
AdemTutić is born and raised in Novi Pazar, where he finished primary and secondary school. He is a student of film and television directing study programm, at the Faculty of Dramatic Arts in Belgrade. Trough various, formal and informal,educational programs, he gaind crucial knowledge about differences, tolerance and human rights. Such experiences result in his interest in creating engaged art.

In our way (dok.)
Director: Marina Todić
Country: Serbia
Year: 2021.
Runtime: 12’3’’
Language: Serbian, Rusyn
Subtitles: English, Serbian
Production: Slobodna zona Junior (Fond B92)

Logline
Bilingual family, grandmother, grandfather, mother, father and small children… How to teach children the right values from an early age and preserve the language, culture and tradition?

Synopsis
In Kucura, a village in Bačka, we follow a completely normal, avarage family. Normal and avarage for Kucura. Grandfather of Bosnian blood, grandmother Ruthenian, mother an father from mixed marriages, and thus their children. Trough everyday events, they teach children to nurture both languages, and to respect both nationalities.
Author’s statement
It is true Vojvodina story, close to me because I am from such famil, and also universal because it reflects many other families. An increasing number of young bilingual married couples decide to take the easier path, to teach their children only Serbian. Vesna and Nikola are an example that they can do differently.

About the author
Marina Todić was born in 2003. She comes from Kucura, but because of her cultural studies she lives in Novi Sad. She has participated in many projects and workshops organized by OPENS, ERASUMUS, and others. In her village she has staged one children’s play for now. She made 3 short films, both for herself and school.

The pear, never falls far from the tree (doc.)
Director:Nebojša Resanović
Country: Serbia
Year: 2021
Runtime: 20’
Language: Serbian
Subtitles: English
Production: Slobodna zona Junior (Fond B92)

Logline
The story of a father and son, through pictures of an orchrad where they worked together until recently.

Synopsis
From snow-covered and bare trees in winter, to beautiful and ripe pears in summer, this story follows an orchard on the slopes of Fruškagora, and a father who will push trough the hard agricultural season alone for the first time.

Author’s statement
My idea was to follow my father’s work in orchard, trough the relationship between him and my older brother, to understand the causes of their conflict, to confront them with each other and thus potentially lead to reconciliation trough the film.

About the author
NebojšaResanović is born in 1994 in Glina (Republic of Croatia). He grew up and finished high school in SremskaMitrovica, while he obtained the title of graduate plant ptotection engineer at the University of Blegrade. He entered the word of film trough skateboarding, which he has been doing all his ife. He is one of the founders of the Skate Festival Summit of the Non-Aligned.

Oči u oči
Director: Jelena Zrnić
Country: Serbia
Year: 2021.
Language: Serbian
Subtitles: English
Production: Slobodna zona Junior (Fond B92)

Logline
Shocked by the fact that 24 years ago, a thirteen year old boy was killed by two minor skinheads in the street where she passes every day, the author decides to make a film about that event.

Synopsis
Near the building, where the author lives, a thirteen year old DušanJovanović was in 1997 beaten to death. Shocked by the fact that the killers, just like herself now, were 17 years old, the author decides to realise what really happened by filming a documentary, but also to remind the general public of this event, hoping that something like that will never happen again.

Author’s statement
Since I have heard the tragic story about Dušan Jovanović, I wanted to understand how someone my age is capable of taking the life of another human being away. While I was working on the film, apart from sadness, I was occasionally overwhelmed by fear, but the desire of mine to realise what happened was stronger than that fear.

About the author
Jelena Zrnić (17) is a second grade student at the Sixth Belgrade Gymnasium. She finished elementary music school for two instruments. Engaged in acting for over 8 years, she enters the world of film. She is open to new knowledge, with broad views on the events around her and everything that happens in the world.

16.30 Luzzu (fic.)
Director: Alex Camilleri
Country: Malta
Year: 2021.
Runtime: 94’
Language: Maltese, English
Cast: Jesmark Scicluna, Michela Farrugia, David Scicluna
Production: Noruz Films (I), Pellikola

BORDER FREE ZONE

SYNOPSIS
This is a story about tradition in transition. Jesmark, born into a family of fishermen, goes out to the water in his lucu-a boat that this story is named after and which is as old as the tradition of fishing in Jesmark’s family. Lucu is covered in Jesmark’s footprints from when he was a baby as well as numerous repairs.
The waters are no longer the same, nor are the laws, which means that there are fewer fish and more regulations. Connected to the seawater, Jesmark can’t imagine doing anything else, even though selling illegal fish to the fishing mafia is the only thing keeping him financially stable. Facing the devastation that the modern world brings with itself, he has to decide: is he still a fisherman without his boat? Will he let down his father and inheritance if he backs out now?

DIRECTOR’S BIOGRAPHY
Alex Camilleri is a Maltese-American filmmaker. He is an alum of both the Sundance and Film Independent labs, and currently preparing his feature-length directorial debut, Luzzu — a neorealist drama offering a rare look at Malta’s fishing industry and starring non-actors in the lead roles. Luzzu won national funding in Malta, was selected for the 2019 Les Arcs Works-In-Progress screening, and has been acquired by renowned sales company Memento Films International for release in 2021. As a film editor, his work has screened at major festivals; credits include Keep the Change (Best Film & Best Director, Tribeca 2017) and Blood Kin (Venice 2018, Sconfini), and as an Associate Editor on HBO’s Farenheit 451. He is currently preparing his sophomore feature, also to be set in Malta.

FESTIVALS AND AWARDS
World Cinema Dramatic Special Jury Award – Sundance Film Festival 2021
Young Jury Award – Sofia International Film Festival 2021
Grand Prize – Skip City International D-Cinema Festival 2021

18.30 Jozi Gold (doc.)
Directors: Sylvia Vollenhoven, Fredrik Gertten
Country: South Africa, Sweden, Norway
Year: 2019.
Runtime: 74’
Language: English, Afrikaans, Zulu, South Sotho; Sesotho
Cast: Mariette Liefferink
Produkcija: WG Film, Vision In Africa, Sant&Usant, World Sales: AutlookFilmsales

GREEN ZONE

SYNOPSIS
The mines of Johannesburg have produced a third of all the gold mined in human history. But now the gold is running out, the mines are falling apart and the city must confront an environmental nightmare: tons of radioactive waste that pollute the air and turn water into poison. Glamorous grandmother Mariette Liefferink is on a relentless mission to uncover the truth and force the gold industry to clean up its dangerous mess. The film follows Mariette’s journey from a housewife to becoming one of the 100 most influential people in the mining world. She believes that God has lost interest in humankind, and that it’s her duty to restore a sense of justice in the world. Jozi Gold is a multistrand exposé of mine pollution, and in that, a story about wealth, human ambition and modern Africa.

DIRECTORS’ BIOGRAPHY
Writer, award-winning journalist and filmmaker, Sylvia Vollenhoven, is a winner of the 2016 Mbokodo Award for Literature. Her film in development, The Keeper of the Kumm, an ancestral historical story was showcased as part of the National Film & Video Foundation (NFVF) slate at the Cannes Film Festival. She was short-listed for the City Press Tafelberg 2012 inaugural non-fiction book award and was the South Africa producer for the BBC 2-part mini seriesMandela the Living Legend. A play she co-authored, My Word, Redesigning Buckingham Palace, was chosen for a run on London’s West End.
Fredrik Gertten is an award-winning Swedish director and journalist. His latest works Becoming Zlatan (2016), Bikes vs Cars (2015),Big boys gone bananas! (2012) and Bananas! (2009) have met audiences in over 100 countries and screened at leading festivals. In 1994 Fredrik founded the production company WG Film. He previously worked as a foreign correspondent and columnist for radio, TV and press in Africa, Latin America, Asia and around Europe. Today he combines filmmaking with a role as a creative producer at WG Film – one of Sweden’s most prominent documentary production companies, famous for local stories with a global understanding and impact.

FESTIVALS AND AWARDS
CPH:DOX 2020
Dokufest International Documentary and Short Film Festival 2020
Reykjavik International Film Festival 2020

21.00 Petite maman (fic.)
Director: Céline Sciamma
Country: France
Year: 2021.
Runtime: 72’
Language: French
Cast: Joséphine Sanz, Gabrielle Sanz, Nina Meurisse
Production: Lilies Films, France 3 Cinéma

WOMEN LINE

SYNOPSIS
Eight-year-old Nellie comes to the house with her parents, which she has heard a lot about. Her mother Marion grew up in that house, she played there and she built a wooden house nearby. One day, her mother suddenly disappears, and Nellie then meets a girl of her age, named Marion, who is building a wooden house in the woods, in the same place where her mother did when she was little.
This is a film in which the author looks back with poetic precision at an important moment in the transition from childhood to adulthood. She examines a major life issue from a distinctly feminine perspective. In a unique emotional experience, she explores the power of memory and imagination.
Critics say that this is the best film so far by Céline Sciamma, which premiered at the Berlin Film Festival in 2021.

DIRECTOR’S BIOGRAPHY
Céline Sciamma was born in 1980 in Pontoise, Val-d’Oise, France. She is a writer and director, known for Portrait of a Lady on Fire (2019), Tomboy (2011) and Water Lilies (2007).

FESTIVALS AND AWARDS
Berlin International Film Festival 2021
Chicago International Film Festival 2021