18th FREE ZONE Film festival
films
INTERNATIONAL SELECTION
RABIYE KURNAZ VS. GEORGE W. BUSH
A mother turned to many institutions in an attempt to save her son. Rabia Kurnaz’s son, Murat, is detained in Guantanamo, a prison from which there is no way out.
1341 FRAMES OF LOVE AND WAR
Film depicts the heavy cost that comes with documenting atrocities and wars. It provides an intimate portrait of the artist and a reflection on memory, violence, and identity.
UTAMA
At the center of the story is a couple of elderly herders who have lived their entire lives on the dry plains of Bolivia and despite all the major difficulties, they are not ready to leave.
THE ECLIPSE
Nataša Urban returns to the eclipse as a metaphor in a thoughtful film about growing up during the war in the former Yugoslavia, testified by her family and acquaintances.
GOOD LUCK TO YOU, LEO GRANDE
Good luck to you, Leo Grande is a hilariously funny but also touching and serious film about the fact that it’s never too late for sex, intimacy, and love (for oneself).
TURN YOUR BODY TO THE SUN
Did Sandar Vajulin betray the Motherland or did she betray him? In search of what her father always kept silent about, Sana reveals to us one of the greatest tragedies of the twentieth century.
REGIONAL SELECTION - BALKAN HORIZONS
BROADWAY
Nellie found herself in Broadway, an abandoned Athenian entertainment complex squatted by a small community of dancers, vagabonds, thieves, and a captive monkey.
THE BUILDING
The film follows seven days in the life of the tenants of a building in Sisak’s industrial suburb, whose gray facade begins to acquire colors – the artist begins to paint a mural on the building.
METRONOME
The last days of first love in Ceaușescu’s Romania. Anna, a seventeen-year-old teenager, learns that in a few days her boyfriend will flee the country for good.
VERA DREAMS OF THE SEA
Vera’s life changes radically after her husband’s suicide. She has to face the reality of going against the deep-seated gender issues of our times.
BURNING DAYS
Emre, a young prosecutor, gets drawn into a corrupt political game and a murder case. Being in a homophobic environment doesn’t help his cause.
BIGGER THAN TRAUMA
If you had survived a war and the past still weighed heavy on you, what would you do to regain the joy of living? A group of women is discovering who they could be without the trauma they had identified with.
EU ZONE OF CHANGE
FULL TIME
This psychologically multi-layered film follows the story of a single mother who refuses to give up on a better job, desperately trying to provide a decent life for her children and herself.
MY IMAGINARY COUNTRY
A new film by the great Patricio Guzmán, the director of The Pearl Button and The Cordillera of Dreams, and a visionary who dreams of the freedom of Chile.
WRITING WITH FIRE
An award-winning documentary that shows what it means to be a woman and a journalist in marginalized communities in India nowadays.
SPARTA
Follow-up to Ulrich Seidl’s previous film, Rimini. It focuses on Richie’s brother, Ewald.
KLONDIKE
July 17, 2014 on the Russia–Ukraine border. Irka refuses to leave her house even when the village is occupied by Russian armed forces. In addition to all that, there’s a big plane crash near the village.
GREEN ZONE
THE TERRITORY
The struggle of the Uru-eu-wau-wau indigenous people against the destruction of forests was caused by illegal settlers and a group of non-native farmers of the Brazilian Amazon.
THIS STOLEN COUNTRY OF MINE
In Ecuador, an indigenous leader and a journalist fight against China plundering their country’s natural resources and taking control of political events.
4 SUNS & PIANO
A Hymn to Nature – a poetic song in celebration of Nature and also a Requiem for Nature – an ardent lament for the extinction and vanishing of Nature.
BORDER FREE ZONE
ZUSAMMENLEBEN
The documentary reveals how the culture of Vienna is transmitted to migrants during integration courses..
THAT KIND OF SUMMER
Invited to a rest home to explore their sexual issues, three women spend their days and nights trying to tame their inner demons.
RIMINI
Richie Bravo is a forgotten singer who entertains pensioners in Rimini during the winter with “wurlitzer” melodies. After his mother’s funeral, a surprise visit forces him to face his life’s failures.
WOMEN LINE
SELECTION 14+
INNOCENCE
Innocence – a film about what it means to grow up in a country that forces you to become a soldier.
THE QUIET GIRL
A quiet, neglected girl is sent away from her dysfunctional family to live with foster parents for the summer. She blossoms in their care, but in this house where there are meant to be no secrets, she discovers one.
WAR PONY
War pony follows the interlocking stories of two young Oglala Lakota men growing up on the Pine Ridge Reservation. Bound by their shared search for belonging, each of the young men grapples with a world built against them.
SELECTION 8+
FULL OF GRACE
Sister Marina, a very unorthodox nun, is sent to a boarding school for boys where, little by little, she becomes something very close to the family they never had.
DREAMS ARE LIKE WILD TIGERS
Twelve-year-old Ranji has one dream only: to stand in front of the camera with his hero, Bollywood superstar Aamir Roshan. But dreams don’t come true by themselves…
CAPTAIN NOVA
A fighter pilot travels back in time to save the future world from environmental disaster, but a side-effect turns her young again and no-one takes her seriously.
FREE ZONE JUNIOR / FUTURE IS HERE
200 BLOODS
The tradition of the wisdom of the word in the reconciliation of 200 blood feuds and as many wounds by Halil Kleçka, is depicted by the reminiscence of his son, Alush.
BLOSSOMS INVERTED
Hub, abandonement, symbiosis, alienation, minorities, collective memory, confessions in the hub of Prizren’s abandoned train station.
DEDI
The diary, the only asset to never forget the most beautiful moments in life. Ded’s most beautiful trace is that those events live forever. Each journey is written with special care and full of love.
DEVIL'S MUSIC
A strong mislead. Prejudice. Denigration. What is Rock and Metal music all about?
AN EPITAPH FOR THE FORGOTTEN
For the first time in a long time, Šaban Šarenkapić and the gathered citizens visit the Jewish cemetery in Novi Pazar and find it in its dignified condition.
THE PEAR, NEVER FALLS FAR FROM THE TREE
From snow-covered and bare trees in winter, to beautiful and ripe pears in summer, this story follows an orchard on the slopes of Fruška gora, and a father who will push through the hard agricultural season alone for the first time.
FOUND OUT
A woman from Prizren towards her journey to find herself.
OCTOBAR
In the cooperative October in Belgrade, Ilija and cat Sara welcome the team that is coming to the first party of the year, after a several-months break due to the pandemic.
OPRATI PRE KORIŠĆENJA
Old school fashion, colourful tracksuits and strange cuts are an expression of the new Belgrade energy.
THE NORTH CITY
Drama students from Kosovska Mitrovica gathered after graduation and shared their experiences of studying in Kosovo. From their entrance exam till the end of their studies, they lived together, changed apartments, took care of each other, and every day, sang new made-up songs.
LOVE?
Three people explain love from their point of view.
NIGHTS
An experimental film about the perspective of a man who is isolated from society, and how he views his life and the world.
PRISON ROMANCE
A love story of a teenage, during the last war in Kosovo 1999–2000, love expressed in letters…
SAFE
The story of abuse, a young girl experienced. How a few turns of events made her home an unsafe and toxic place.
THE ART OF HEALING
“The Art and the Medicine, these are my two things.” A film about Fatos Pula, who made the connection between his two passions that come from different worlds, but not only. He recounts how he integrated art into his profession to create his physio-therapeutic inventions, involved zealously in many spheres, always to heal and help others.
FIRST TWO STEPS
CLARA SOLA
After years under the control of her oppressive mother, Clara’s sexual desires awaken, fueled by her attraction to her niece’s new boyfriend.
CORSAGE
Empress Elisabeth of Austria celebrates her 40th birthday. She is increasingly eager for knowledge and a life that is not restrained by a court corset.
GENTLE
A film about bodybuilding obsession, romance, (un)fulfillment and love, told in-between workout sets and calorie counting.
LOVE DEUTSCHMARKS AND DEATH
An essay-like film, almost a tutorial on Turkish and German most recent history. It talks about the jobs of the Turkish emigrants, nostalgia and their music.
RODEO
Welcome to the motorcycle culture of the Parisian suburbs, where a fearless motorcyclist Julia manages to completely shake up the all men motorcycle club.
KARAOKE PARADISE
A fun portrayal of the Finnish passion for karaoke – the antidote to loneliness and a medicine to enjoy in community without great pretensions.
IN FOCUS: AVI MOGRABI
FIRST 54 YEARS: AN ABBREVIATED MANUAL FOR MILITARY OCCUPATION
The new film by the great Israeli documentary filmmaker Avi Mograbi is a testimony of Israeli soldiers about the occupation of the Palestinian territories in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.
AVENGE, BUT ONE OF MY TWO EYES
A documentary on the treatment of Palestianians by members of the Israeli army.
BETWEEN FENCES
Chen Alon and Avi Mograbi decide to start a theater workshop with people detained in a detention center in the Israeli desert near the Egyptian border.
MONICA VITTI TRIBUTE
KINOKAUCH PRESENTS
LUZZU
A story about tradition and transition. A fisherman from Malta and his dreams to financially support his family by fishing and the challenges that every new age brings.
GORBACHOV. HEAVEN
The last interview with the former president of the USSR, one of the most influential figures of the last century. His view of Russia then and now in the light of ongoing events is more current than ever.
THE JUMP
In 1970, a Lithuanian sailor made a desperate leap for freedom from his Soviet vessel to a US Coast Guard cutter, but the Americans sent him back – inciting one of the Cold War’s most complex and suspenseful political blunders.
THE MAN WHO SOLD HIS SKIN
His own body turned into a living work of art, Sam, a Syrian refugee, will soon realize to have sold away more than just his skin.
LAMB
A childless couple discovers a mysterious newborn on their farm in Iceland.
HONEYLAND
The last female bee-hunter in Europe must save the bees and return to the natural balance in Honeyland, when a family of nomadic beekeepers invade her land and threaten her livelihood.
THE RESTLESS
Leila and Damien are deeply in love. Despite his bipolarity, he tries to pursue his life with her, knowing he may never be able to offer her what she desires.
IVAN
Caught amid a violent corruption affair, a young woman is forced to make an impossible choice between the man she obsessively loves and her newborn son.
CORPUS CHRISTI
Daniel experiences a spiritual transformation in a detention center. He has no intention of giving up his dream and decides to minister to a small-town parish.
SLOBODNA ZONA I CINEPLEXX
CORSAGE
Empress Elisabeth of Austria celebrates her 40th birthday. She is increasingly eager for knowledge and a life that is not restrained by a court corset.
GOOD LUCK TO YOU, LEO GRANDE
Good luck to you, Leo Grande is a hilariously funny but also touching and serious film about the fact that it’s never too late for sex, intimacy, and love (for oneself).
ARMAGEDON TIME
A brilliant cast led by Anthony Hopkins paints a portrait of American society and its opposites through the story of two boys growing up in the Reagan era.
MOONAGE DAYDREAM
A cinematic odyssey exploring David Bowie’s creative and musical journey.
SHE SAID
Two New York Times reporters break one of the most important stories in a generation – a story that helped launch the #MeToo movement and shattered decades of silence around the subject of sexual assault in Hollywood.