Docu Press Corner: Presented films "Your life without me", "Biang Biang Express" and "Cent'anni"

The Docu Press Corner was led by Rada Šešić, programmer of the Competition Programme – Documentary Film.

Anna Rubi, the director of the film "Your life without me" recalled that the film follows the story of elderly women who take care of children with disabilities, facing the fact that, in the event of their death, their children would be exposed to the horrors of Hungarian homes for socially vulnerable persons . Asked how satisfied she was with the reception of the film by the BiH audience, Rubi did not hide her satisfaction.

"It was very emotional. I had tears in my eyes. The audience asked great questions, and they reacted wonderfully to the film. That's all you want as a filmmaker," said the director.

Anna Rubi was joined in the conversation by her partner and collaborator Aron. The author couple reveals that the film was initially supposed to be a video accompanying an NGO campaign that should help women in the fight for justice, but that it soon became clear that the material could be turned into a film, and that it was a much larger project for which more funds will be needed. The director recalled her first meeting with the female protagonists.

"The first meeting happened seven years ago, while I was still working in the NGO sector. I attended a meeting with these women at the moment when they had to fire their lawyer in a court case with the state. That meeting had such a great impact on me. It was that's something really unusual. I've never seen it before," emphasized Rubi.

An unusual creative process accompanied the creation of the film "Biang Biang Express" by Nikola Stojanović. It is a student work created during an exchange in China, where the young author was given the opportunity to spend one day filming in China, have an interview with a Chinese mentor and return to his country with the film.

"When I signed the contract, I did not read it, but later I saw that it says that the candidate who does not make a film will not be bought a plane ticket to return home. I believe that this is a strong motivation to finish the project," explained the director humorously.

Although the film deals with the making of Chinese noodles, Stojanović says that his intention was to make a more complex story about the people who run these retail businesses. The programmer of the Competition Programme - Documentary Film agreed that the author succeeded in his directorial intention.

The film "Cent'anni" tells the story of Blaž who, after surviving a fatal illness, decides to celebrate by riding the grueling Giro d'Italia bicycle race. His partner Maja Doroteja immortalized that triumph in the form of video footage, which she later decided to turn into a film. One of the motivations for this couple's endeavors was the thought that only when we allow ourselves to be vulnerable can we really begin to recover.

In the conversation, Blaž notes that most films about people who have survived cancer or leukemia usually over-emphasize what is happening and that it is a painful process, both for the patient himself and for those closest to him. 

Progremmer Šešić noticed that a great deal of vulnerability and exposure is needed in order to make a film like this about someone close to us. Director Maja Doroteja agreed with this assessment.

 

"I just decided to be honest and if I felt that I was okay with what was shown, and if I showed Blaža and he was okay with it, then I would be happy to include him," emphasized the director.

After the main part of the conversation, the authors of the documentaries also answered the journalists questions.