Restart’s documentary-feature film “Fiume o Morte!” Igor Bezinović won the main prize of the main competition program (Tiger) of the 54th edition of the International Film Festival in Rotterdam. It is the first Croatian film to win the main prize of this prestigious film festival. In addition, the film received the FIPRESCI award, which is awarded by the International Association of Film Critics. The film was premiered to the audience in Rotterdam by a film crew led by author Igor Bezinović, producers Vanja Jambrović and Tibor Keser (Restart), co-producers Marina Gumzi (Nosorogi, Slovenia) and Erica Barbiani (Videomante, Italy). Among others, director of photography Gregor Božič, editor Hrvoslava Brkušić, costume designers Tajči Čekada and Manuela Paladin, casting director Sara Jakupec and others were also there. The main Tiger competition program celebrates the innovative and adventurous spirit of emerging filmmakers. In the explanation of the jury whose members are Yuki Aditya, Winnie Lau, Peter Strickland and Andrea Luka Zimmermann, it is stated: “This is a film in which people and public spaces are used as co-conspirators in the investigation of the past through the prism of contemporary Europe. At the time of the rise of ultra-nationalism in the contemporary European context, the film playfully tackles the past not as a closed chapter, but as a reality we live. This film is a mirror of today’s times. Resorting to ultra-nationalism and even fascism is at the core of national identity, it is already in us as a form of knowledge that we should be afraid to forget and constantly need to process in order to free ourselves from its grip. This is the reality we remember from movies, literature, books. These are memories that travel as much as the history of a nation. So we must re-create history, again and again, not only to forget, but to create the world we want it to be, for all of us.” Next to the main one, “Fiume o Morte!” he also won the FIPRESCI award, which is awarded by the international association of film critics. In the explanation of the jury consisting of Garance Hayat, Hossein Eidizadeh, Ossama Abdelfattah Rezk, Piotr Czerkawski and Tim Lindemann, it is stated: “We were impressed by the playful use of archival footage and reconstruction to shed light on an under-known episode of European history. Although full of self-reflexive humour, the film manages to use its creative exploration of history to provide a detailed commentary on troubling contemporary political movements, particularly the rise of the far right. We applaud the film’s light-hearted combination of experimentation and accessibility – not least because of its excellent editing – which serves to convey a warning against the creation of authoritarianism.”
