Verzió..BLOG

In the Croatian coastal city of Rijeka, a theatrical play is about to start. It is called Aleksandra Zecand represents the murder of this 12-year-old Croatian Serb, who was executed along with her parents in Zagreb during the Croatian War of Independence in December 1991. At the entrance of the theater, a small group of ultraconservatives are demonstrating against the organizing of this event. “86 kids from Vukovar” or “When will the Croatian victims have their own theatre play?” are some of the slogans they carry. Croatia is still a very polarized society nowadays, so everything that has something to do with the Serbian community generates controversy. 

The idea of doors and their representation is often an inviting, interesting choice for symbolism. They can be there or not; if they’re not, their absence is still meaningful, as it says something to us about the nature, practicalities, and inhabitants, of a certain space. On the other hand, their presence does the same thing, but conditioned by the position that they’re in; whether they’re open or closed, being opened or being closed, by whom, in what situation, and when. The metaphorical potentials stemming from this seemingly simple everyday item are thus almost endless. However, rarely are they represented in more than a supporting role for some kind of a bigger statement or idea to be made, perhaps because of a single, but very well-hidden quality they possess – the implied control one has over them.

While Verzió celebrates its fifteenth birthday this year, the generation born in the 2000s is slowly growing up. They will face challenges that are not yet clearly defined. In his newest work, Fernand Melgar, a director whose earlier film trilogy depicted life as a Swiss refugee, tackles the delicate and always relevant topic of people living with mental disabilities.

We talked to the director of A Woman Captured, Bernadett Tuza-Ritter, about the birth of the multi-award winning movie, her relationship with the movie’s protagonist, and modern-day slavery.

Since last year CEU has been offering documentary filmmaking courses for its students. Each semester without any prior experience students can delve into the hard work of making a documentary and expand their academic interest. Ana Lolua together with Danielle Johnson created their first documentary titled Contact. The film is a black and white poetic exploration of contact dance that with the help of interviews brings closer to the audience not only the art form but a particular lifestyle as well. We asked Ana about her experiences as a filmmaker starting from zero.

Somewhere in Israel, a hip hop crew of  immigrants from the former Soviet Union wants to win the international Battle of the Year. Dance is the key for them to get through the difficulties in their private life. Roman Shumunov’s documentary gives an insight into a hidden part of Israeli society: a part which tries to integrate, but frequently faces hostility. A review of Babylon Dreamers, winner of the We're changing section of Budapest International Documentary Festival 2018.

The documentary Resettlement is the story of two people, Tadeusz and Maria, who are forced to move out of their house, because after more than six decades of living there the the owner is interested in one argument only - money. The genesis of the film is simply an eviction but the director Filip Antoni Malinowski, the grandson of Tadeusz and Maria manages to show a captivating character study from this starting point. The documentary was presented in this year’s Verzió in the section Your Own City, dedicated to films about human rights issues connected to urbanization and housing.

Lauri loves walking in the forest, listening to the songs of birds, and let his mind wander around thoughts which later become poems. The viewer can easily feel the protagonist's inner peace in the documentary film My Secret Forest. Besides observing the daily routine of a young man living with autism, the film brings into focus his complex personality, his way of thinking and creativity. We interviewed Niina Brandt, the director of the film at the 14th Verzio Film Festival, who created Lauri’s poetical vision with the help of blurry and enlarged images, sounds of the forest and fragments of his poems.

It is a real discovery to listen to the imaginative and delicate thoughts of Lauri, a privilege for which we should thank Niina Brandt, the director of My Secret Forest. Presented this year at Verzio, it is a poetical story of love, silence, deep and powerful feelings, self-determination and understanding.

David Borenstein, a scholar of Chinese received his training in anthropology at the City University of New York. He went to China with Fulbright Scholarship to study urbanization and real estate speculation. It was the high time of real estate investments: villages disappeared into thin air and new, luxurious metropolises were built instead. He became friends with Yana who was ambitiously getting into her business at a time that was organizing gigs with foreign performers typically in order to attract potential customers. The director also performed as a musician in these so-called “white monkey gigs”. An interview with David Borenstein about Dream Empire and China at the 14th Verzió Film Festival.