WOODS THAT SING
Formed around four main stories, the film combines visually impressive segments with the testimonies of female partisans. Nanica (18) died during the war and left behind a diary. Marija (87) gave an audio interview a couple of years ago and we have her audio recording. Hilda (105) and Zdenka (96) passionately testify about their war and post-war experiences. The film searches for hidden feminine principles, forms, and meanings in the stories we know, think we know, and have yet to discover. This film is a monument to these stories because they are not important only to them.
Renata Poljak is a visual artist and director, born in Split in 1974. She graduated from the Art Academy in Split and completed her post-graduate studies at the Fine Arts Academy in Nantes. She exhibited works at numerous independent domestic and international exhibitions, film festivals, and biennials. She received plenty of scholarships and awards. A selection of the author’s films was shown independently at the Georges Pompidou Centre in Paris in 2010, and at the Palais de Tokyo, also in Paris, in 2012. Renata’s three films Another Departure (2019), Porvenir (2020), and Split (2021), all premiered at the Oberhausen Film Festival. Porvenir was a winner of five awards at film festivals.
Dokufest International Documentary and Short Film Festival
ZagrebDox
WOODS THAT SING (doc.)
Director: Renata Poljak
Country: Croatia
Year: 2024.
Runtime: 68’
Language: Croatian, Serbian
Production: Documenta – Centre for Dealing with the Past, Kinematograf
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PROGRAM LINE: REGIONAL SELECTION BALKAN HORIZONS