PLAYING MEN
2017, mid-length documentary, director: Matjaž Ivanišin, 60 min.
Nosorogi (SI) in co-production with Restart (HR)
Playing Men Teaser from NOSOROGI on Vimeo.
Everybody knows that playing is a serious matter. Director Matjaž Ivanišin is confident about that, and he has chosen to take us to a strictly male world. We get to see men striking punching balls at a funfair, clinching at each other roughly until the shoulders of their opponents touch the ground, trying to excel at throwing heavy rounds of cheese through the narrow streets of villages, competing at screaming the numbers obtained by adding their raised fingers, etc. Either sports deemed noble or tavern hobbies, peaceful leisure activities or amusements infused with barely contained violence, and although incongruous at times, all these games clearly have a touch of archaism about them. Does this mean that the film is just an inventory of manly representations and their ancient roots in these remote corners of the Mediterranean? One could think so, if the director didn’t suddenly appear on screen, visibly tired of trying to make sense of it all, and ready to turn the tables. Then he changes the pace of the film, gets rid of conventional documentary descriptions, and focuses instead on comedy and its surprises. Also, he describes what seems to be the regional making of an homo politicus through games. As an historic example, the famous match of national treasure Goran Ivanišević is being patiently related.
About author Screenings Financial support

Matjaž Ivanišin was born in 1981 in Maribor. He studied film directing at the Slovene national film school (AGRFT) in Ljubljana. Since his graduation in 2007 he has been working as a freelance filmmaker (director & screenwriter). His films were screened in festivals around the world and received several awards. Karpotrotter, an experimental road-movie on the iconic Yugoslav black-wave director Karpo Godina, was premiered at Rotterdam and screened at Tribeca, among others.
Awards:
FID MARSEILLE 2017, Marseille, France - Georges De Beauregard International Prize
PANČEVO FILM FESTIVAL 2017, Pančevo, Serbia - special mention
FESTIVAL OF SLOVENIAN FILM 2017, Portorož, Slovenia - best documentary
ENTREVUES BELFORT INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL 2017, Belfort, France - Cine+ Distribution Support Award
ZAGREBDOX 2018, Zagreb, Croatia - special mention
ISREAL 2018, Nuoro, Sardinia, Italy - special student jury mention
DOCAVIV 2018, Tel Aviv, Israel - Artistic Vision Award
UNDERHILLFEST 2018, Podgorica, Montenegro - best regional film (Dandelion award)
OLHAR DE CINEMA - CURITIBA INT'L FILM FESTIVAL 2018, Curitiba, Brazil - best feature documentary (Premio Olhar)
MAKEDOX 2018, Skopje, Macedonia - special mention
FÜNF SEEN FILMFESTIVAL 2018, Funfseenland, south Germany - best documentary
Festivals:
FID MARSEILLE 2017, Marseille, France - international competition / world premiere
SARAJEVO FILM FESTIVAL 2017, Sarajevo, Bosnia & Herzegovina / regional premiere
FESTIVAL OF SLOVENIAN FILM 2017, Portorož, Slovenia - mid-length documentary competition
PANČEVO FILM FESTIVAL 2017, Pančevo, Serbia - competition
EUROPEAN AND MEDITERRANEAN FILM FESTIVAL 2017, Piran, Slovenia - program 'New Slovenia)
FILMER A TOUT PRIX 2017, Bruxelles, Belgium - program 'Special Sessions'
AUTEUR FILM FESTIVAL 2017, Belgrade, Serbia - program 'Brave Balkan'
ENTREVUES BELFORT INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL 2017, Belfort, France - competition
TRANSCINEMA INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL 2017, Lima, Peru
FIRST LOOK FESTIVAL 2018, New York, USA - main program
PREMIER PLANS 2018, Angers, France - program 'Free Forms'
TRIESTE FILM FESTIVAL 2018, Trieste, Italy - competition
INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM 2018, Rotterdam, Netherlands - program 'Bright Future Mid-Length'
ZAGREBDOX 2018, Zagreb, Croatia - regional competition
TRUE/FALSE 2018, Missouri, USA - official selection
FESTIVAL DU CINÉMA DE BRIVE 2018, Brive, France - International competition
DOKUMENTARFILMWOCHE 2018, Hamburg, Germany - official program / closing film
CROSSING EUROPE 2018, Linz, Austria - program 'Cinema Next Europe'
INDIE LISBOA 2018, Lisboa, Portugal - program 'Silvestre'
ISREAL 2018, Nuoro, Sardinia, Italy - competition
DOCUMENTA MADRID 2018, Madrid, Spain - Fugas feature film competition
ENCUENTROS DEL OTRO CINE - EDOC 2018, Quito, Ecuador - program 'All are Men' / Todos son Hombres'
MILLENNIUM DOCS AGAINST GRAVITY FILM FESTIVAL 2018, Warsaw, Poland - program 'Fetish and Cuture'
DOCAVIV 2018, Tel Aviv, Israel - competition (Depth of Field)
FILMFESTIVAL DEL GARDA 2018, San Felice del Benaco, Italy - competition
KINO OTOK / ISOLA CINEMA 2018, Izola, Slovenia - main program
UNDERHILLFEST 2018, Podgorica, Montenegro - regional competition
OLHAR DE CINEMA - CURITIBA INT'L FILM FESTIVAL 2018, Curitiba, Brazil - international competition
CROATIAN FILM DAYS 2018, Zagreb, Croatia - program 'Outside the Frame'
STAZIONE DI TOPOLO / POSTAJA TOPOLOVE 2018, Topolo / Gramak, Italy / Slovenia - main program
DOKUFEST 2018, Prizren, Kosovo - competition (Balkan Dox)
MAKEDOX 2018, Skopje, Macedonia - competition
LES ÉTATS GÉNÉRAUX DU FILM DOCUMENTAIRE - LUSSASDOC 2018, Lussas, France - official program
INTO THE GREAT WIDE OPEN 2018, Vileland, Netherlands - 'Rotterdam programme'
DOKUDOC 2018, Maribor, Slovenia - official program
FÜNF SEEN FILMFESTIVAL 2018, Funfseenland, south Germany - documentary competition
VILNIUS DOCUMENTARY FILM FESTIVAL 2018, Vilnius, Lithuania - main program
CINEAST 2018, Luxemburg - program 'Cinedocs'
CAMERIMAGE 2018, Torun, PL - program 'Documentary Special Screenings'
DIAMMETRALE 2019, Innsbruck, AT - main program
DOKUART 2019, Bjelovar, HR - main program