16 Jun 13th UnderhillFest awards

The jury of the 13th UnderhillFest for feature documentary films consisting of: Ognjen Glavonić – director and screenwriter from Serbia, Dina Pokrajac – film critic, editor and director of the Subversive Film Festival from Croatia and Ivan Čojbašić – director, producer and director of photography from Montenegro decided to give the Dandelion Award in the INTERNATIONAL category to the film “How to save a dead friend” directed by Marusya Syroechkovskaye.

“Director Marusya Syroechkovskaya writes a posthumous love letter to her friend Kimi, but also gives a voice to an entire silenced generation. Her documentary was filmed during the period of twelve years and with the beats of Ian Curtis’ Love Will Tear Us Apart, she captures everything that includes growing up in a violent and autocratic regime. 150 hours of material was edited by the award-winning Syrian director and editor Qutaiba Barhamji and with his skill certainly contributed to the quality of the film. Skillfully avoiding pathos and conveying sincere emotion, Sirocheovskaya tells the story of friendship, love and drug use without embellishment, trying to find a foothold in a world that is rushing to meet the inevitable cataclysm. While the oppressive oligarchy is determined to put its nationalist dream into action, with these moving images the director is trying to save the memory of wonderful Kimi, his gentle nature and rebellious spirit. ”

The three-member jury decided to give the SPECIAL RECOGNITION in the INTERNATIONAL category to the film “Ostrov – Lost Island” directed by Svetlana Rodina and Laurent Stoop.

“Ostrov – Lost Island is a portrait of the inhabitants of an almost deserted island in the middle of the Caspian Sea, which during the Cold War was an important air base and a prosperous fishing collective farm. Directors Rodina and Stoop wrap the dystopian everyday life of their protagonists with silent observationalism and meticulously set shots, who, forgotten by all, survive from poaching. Physical isolation turns into a mental prison in which the older ones cannot free themselves from the shackles of the glorious past, while the young are torn between two opposing realities: a past that is not theirs and a future that is almost impossible to imagine. The Lost Island is becoming a symbol of modern Russia, torn between deceptive nostalgia and harsh post-transition reality. ”

The DANDELION award in the REGIONAL category went to the film “Factories to the Workers” directed by Srdjan Kovacevic.

“Srdjan Kovacevic’s documentary follows the workers of the ITAS factory who are hesitant whether they should continue to insist on the only example of workers’ self-government in Eastern Europe or give up the 15-year collective struggle and sell the company. Are their efforts to protect their work worth many sacrifices they have made along the way? Kovacevic does not give an unequivocal answer and does not close his eyes to the uncertainty of their venture. Although obviously empathetic to the workers ‘struggle, he is not subjected to traps of agitprop, but presents a complex nuanced analysis in which a former union representative and current director Drago Varga imposes himself as the coryphaeus of the struggle for the future of ITAS but also of workers’ dignity in our fragile post-socialist so-called states. Apart from being a precise and virtuoso study of the cruelty of the capitalist system, we were impressed by the initiative of director Kovačević and the producers of the Fade In film, to share all the film’s profits with the protagonists, ITAS workers, which is a commendable example of an ethical approach to documentaries.”

The special recognition of the jury in the REGIONAL category was given to the film “Without” directed by Luka Papić.

“Without – Looking for his missing dog, the artist of strange and non-standard attitudes is at the center of modern absurd comedy told through a documentary-feature film that raises philosophical, ethical and environmental questions.
Director Luka Papić very skillfully uses characters from the margins of society to present the current socio-political situation in Serbia in a minimalist way. The result is an interesting and astonishing film that successfully examines the relationship between a man and a dog, man and art, as well as their significance in life. ” 

The jury for the selection of “7 short” – short documentaries, cosnsiting of: Sara Tomic – a student of the Faculty of Architecture, David Todorovic – a student of the Faculty of Dramatic Arts and Sara Lakicevic – a student of the Faculty of Visual Arts decided that the Dandelion Award for the Short documentary film goes to “Adjusting” directed by Dejan Petrović.

“The act that shows the essence of the story, equal to the hidden one that carries the point and communicates the idea of ​​the film, and the visual treatment that skillfully hides the real topic, the Dandelion Award for Best Short Documentary goes to Adjusting by Dejan Petrovic.”

The special recognition of the jury in the short documentary category was given to “Displaced” directed by Samir Karahoda.

“We reward Samir Karahoda’s film Displaced for his digression in documentary aesthetics and successful maintenance of the form, despite the strong presence of the director which film managed to turn to its advantage.”