On Demand

BLOKADA

by Igor Bezinović

A behind-the-scenes rollicking look at the longest and arguably most important student uprising in Croatia's history.

2012 · 1h33m · Croatia

Croatian

English subs

About the Film

BLOKADA is a unique view from within on the most massive, longest, and politically most significant student protest in the country, since 1971, that started in April of 2009 at the Faculty of humanities and Social Sciences in Zagreb. The struggle against the commercialization of education and the blockade of teaching classes lasted for 34 days. The rebellion spread onto more than 20 faculties across the country and the students became an active and relevant political subject. The director followed everything: from the exhilarating preparation meetings and blocking of classes to the first signs of exhaustion, through personal situations and discussions late at night, from the initial support of most faculty members to the moment they turned their back to the movement and the attempt to reach the missing minister of education. This film shows that the blockade was not just physical and that it has a much broader meaning.

Screenings of this film have been made possible thanks to the National Film Board of Canada.

Upcoming Screenings

Stay tuned for upcoming screenings!

Festivals and Awards

1234

Winner: Special Jury Mention, UnderhillFest - Podgorica, Montenegro 2012Winner: 'Oktavijan', Film Critics Award for Best Documentary, Croatian Film Days 2012 Winner: Audience Award, Croatian Film Days 2012Official Selection: Which Human Rights? Film Festival, Istanbul, Turkey, 2012Official Selection: This Human World Film Festival, Vienna, Austria, 2012Official Selection: American Documentary Film festival, Palm Springs, CA, 2013Official Selection: Festival of Mediterranean Films Split, Split, Croatia, 2013

Editor

Hrvoslava Brkušić, Maida Srabović & Miro Manojlović

Co-director

Producer

Oliver Sertić & Nenad Puhovski

Sound Editor

Researcher

Soundtrack Composer

Translator

Writer

Igor Bezinović

Film Related

About the Director

Igor Bezinović

Official Website

Igor Bezinović is a filmmaker born in Rijeka, which is now part of Croatia, but at that time belonged to the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, before that partly the Kingdom of Italy and partly the Kingdom of Yugoslavia (and before that the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes), before that the Free State of Fiume, before that the Italian Regency of Carnaro, before that Austria-Hungary…

His films include The Blockade (Oktavijan prize for best Croatian documentary in 2012), Veruda (Oktavijan prize for best Croatian documentary in 2015) and A Brief Excursion (Big Golden Arena prize for best Croatian feature in 2017), along with many shorts of all shapes and sizes. His work has been shown internationally at events including IFF Rotterdam, DOK Leipzig, IDFF Jihlava, CPH:DOX, Kurzfilmtage Winterthur, Biennale of Young Artists from Europe and the Mediterranean, Venice Biennale of Architecture (with Hrvoslava Brkušić for Pulska grupa), Museum of the Moving Image and the Guanajuato IFF.

He graduated in film directing at the Academy of Dramatic Art in Zagreb and in Philosophy, Sociology and Comparative Literature at the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences in Zagreb. He is a member of The Croatian Film Directors’ Guild, the Croatian Freelance Artists’ Association and the judo club Black Belt.

Official Website