Docs Open Debates
words by Marko Grba Singh
Documentary films are essential for a healthy society: they provoke debate, challenge mindsets, and nurture critical thinking. By exploring both intimate local stories and major historical events, they reveal the unknown, raise awareness, and inspire reflection. In a world where dialogue is increasingly replaced by monologue and cheering for sides, documentaries remain crucial platforms for analysis and understanding.
This year’s selection features nine films, each offering a distinct lens on the world. Croatian master documentarist Goran Dević returns with “Pavilion 6”, a pandemic comedy that portrays modern Croatia through confessions from the vaccination queue. Eliza Petkova’s “Silent Observers” views a village through the eyes of farm animals – a visual ode to a calmer rhythm of life – while “When Lightning Flashes Over the Sea” captures the heroic resilience of the human spirit in Odesa under Russian attack.
Golden Bear winner Jasmila Žbanić (“Grbavica”, 2006) introduces Emerik Blum, a portrait of the post–WWII Yugoslav socialist and father of modern Sarajevo, while “One Man Avalanche” traces the life of drummer Dragoljub Đuričić, a symbol of the anti-Milošević protests. “Dajori” and “Consider a Tomato” reflect on acts of care – from a mother’s struggle to hold her family together to recipes preserving disappearing ways of farming. Finally, “We Live Here”, a visionary debut set on Kazakhstan’s nuclear test site, follows three generations grappling with the fragility of survival.
