DOK Leipzig and Peacemaker

First a copy paste from the press release of DOK Lweipzig: “A successful festival week lies behind us: This year, 53,000 visitors attended the screenings, events, and industry activities. We would like to thank everyone for their interest and for all the wonderful and valuable encounters!

Our Festival Director Christoph Terhechte sums up:

“The fact that so many festivalgoers and accredited guests once again flocked to the cinemas, to DOK Neuland and to the DOK Industry events continues to show how great the demand is for artistic engagement with global political issues and diverse lifestyles,” concludes festival director Christoph Terhechte. “This year, we observed a striking number of film talks in which the audience not only asked questions but also engaged in lengthy and lively discussions about the films. There is a thirst for dialogue held face-to-face – and it remained respectful throughout the festival. This is the approach to discourse we like to see.”

AND then about the winner: “In the International Competition Documentary Film, the Golden Dove Feature-Length Film went to Ivan Ramljak for “Peacemaker” (Mirotvorac | Croatia). This award-winning film looks at the beginnings of the war between Serbia and Croatia and a chief of police in Slavonia, who was determined to mediate between the conflicting parties. “A specific event in a specific region was made into a film of universal importance,” the jury said in its statement. The 10,000-euro Golden Dove is sponsored by Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk.”

I watched the film, archive-based, a creative documentary, very well told (editor Damir Cucic, know him for many films AND producer Nenad Puhovski, director, producer and founder and director of the Festival ZagrebDox). A strong story indeed from the horrors in Slavonia 1991-95.

The photo shows the car, in which police officer Josip Tvrtko Reihl Kir and colleagues were sitting and shot.