Behind the Shadow casters association, there is another fantastically successful year

Like in the last two decades, Shadow Casters have once again, through joint efforts, created numerous workshops, performances, educational events, guest appearances, as well as film and urban projects on several continents. As we approach the end of this year, we decided to reflect on some of the activities and projects that made us proud, as we successfully organized everything we had planned.

At the beginning of the year, we staged a performance called “Twisted Performance,” a public event about ways of storytelling through the example of a transformed traditional fairy tale. This event was interactive and sensory, and in some parts, it involved professional artists, teachers, children, young people, and older participants. We premiered this unconventional performance at the Ribnjak Scene, also showcasing parts of our audiobooks from the TwistedTales project, as well as a mobile app in which visitors could record and share their own, new stories with others.

After this sensory performance journey, we focused on Urboglifs, a research project conducted in the form of micro-lectures and crypto and ready-made audio and performance installations in shared spaces within the local community. Through this project, we got closer to the residents of the Lower Town, even utilizing our office in Martićeva. In February, we organized thematic film screenings, inviting filmmakers and urban planners with whom we discussed the films. Each screening was free and open to the public, who could participate in discussions at any time. These events took place at the Matko Laginja Neighborhood Committee. When spring arrived, we concluded the screenings and took our office outdoors. We set up “open offices” in several locations in the Lower Town and used these spaces to test and improve the entire Urboglifs program through direct communication with the citizens. We handled all organization and promotion of the project and collected stories from curious locals. This led us to the project’s finale, which we organized through several “conversation starters” with artist Leo Vukelić, graphic designer and conceptual artist Petra Slobodnjak, psychotherapist Pavle Perković, actress and theater author Maruška Aras, regular members of the Shadow Casters, and all interested passers-by. The conversations took place in the park of the unfortunate Prince Zdeslav, at the top of Vitić’s skyscraper in Laginjina Street, and in several courtyards on Martićeva Street.

After the first Urboglifs screenings in February, we quickly moved on to the first Frooom! of the year, led by our colleague and award-winning filmmaker Mia Maros Živković. This film school for young people held about fifteen workshops this year, ranging from beginner to masterclasses, in February, April, June, July, August, and November, across Croatia: in Zagreb, Rijeka, Koprivnica, and Velika Gorica. Moreover, Frooom! never sleeps, as children, youth, filmmakers, authors, selectors, and the widest audience of various festivals across all 7 continents know. This year, our films received 9 valuable awards: Anka and Dominik – Space Friends, Eko Squad, Monster Mobiles, Moths, BU, Medusa, Squared Dreams, Reflection, Big Bang Cookies, Little Bell, A Day at the Museum of Krapina Neanderthals, and Supplementary Classes. In addition to the awards, our participants also traveled a bit, as this year they had the opportunity to attend Filem’On, an international film festival for children and young people held in Brussels, as well as the Lucas International Festival for Young Film Lovers, where our participants served as selectors for the festival’s section.

Closely tied to Frooom! is the CinEd project, led by curator Ivana Šešlek. We wrote a special article about their connection, which you can read HERE. Frooom! and CinEd often collaborate, and this year they produced two master workshops: one with Italian documentarian and educator Domenico Centrone and the other led by French film educator, curator, and researcher Sébastien Ronceray and Croatian film critic and curator Ejla Kovačević. Additionally, within the CinEd framework, there were workshops and educational programs for teachers led by producer Evi Karageorgu. After that, numerous screenings for teenagers were organized, followed by discussions with directors or professors. This year, CinEd also included trips to Sakarya, Novi Sad, Skopje, and Athens, where screenings, workshops, and meetings were held.

Alongside film workshops for children and young people, the Shadow Casters did not forget the older members of the community. Therefore, we once again organized “The Sky’s the Limit,” film workshops for retirees and those over 54. This time, the workshops took place in Zagreb and Rijeka in August, October, and November. The efforts and work of our participants will culminate in a screening of this year’s and last year’s films created during the Zagreb workshops. The screening will take place on December 17 at the Matko Laginja Neighborhood Committee, which generously provided space for the workshops. The event will start at 18:00, and three films will be shown.

Another important film project for the Shadow Casters is Boris Bakal’s film Vitić Dances. Although it is already well known, the film had its Zagreb premiere in April at the Zagreb Film Archive, where due to high interest, multiple screenings were held. Vitić has already won numerous awards and has been showcased at film festivals like the Biografilm Festival in Bologna, Lund Architecture Festival in Sweden, Cuzco Underground Cinema Festival in Peru, History and Film Festival in Rasnov, Cine Del Mar Film Festival in Uruguay, Venice Architecture Film Festival, and others. We are proud and thrilled that this story about the restoration of the modernist architectural masterpiece by architect Ivo Vitić is being presented to an international audience. For Boris Bakal, this is far from the end of the film year, as he is currently preparing two more films, Donkey Island and The Perfection of the Circle.

In addition to the aforementioned projects, this year would not have been complete without our most famous “Ex-position,” which took place again in June and, as usual, attracted a large number of interested people. After the “Ex-position,” we repeated “Community Constellations,” a kind of hybrid project for the “healing” of the community through strategic planning and activating the community using psychotherapeutic and artistic-creative methods during crises. This year, these events took place in Glina (Croatian Home), Petrinja (Munjara Kulture), and Sisak (City Gallery Striegl) in collaboration with cinematographer Bojana Burnać, actress Jelena Miholjević, writer Dorotea Šušak, psychotherapist Pavle Perković, poet Monika Herceg, actors Teo Šimić, Bojan Navojac, and Boris Bakal, writer Damir Karakaš, and film and theater author Hrvoje Podobnik.

In this busy year, the Shadow Casters also participated in the “Whispers of the Walls” workshop in Tkon, led by Boris Bakal, Anja Pletikosa, and Draga Čukina. Here, children, parents, and interested citizens had the opportunity to learn how to observe space, explore visible and invisible choreographies and resources in the city they live in, and collect audiovisual markers of these spaces.

Moreover, the Shadow Casters traveled a lot this year to present the organization and everything it does. We were in Berlin for the ECFA General Assembly, in Zlín, Czech Republic for the Zlín Film Festival, on Zlarin for ZKN – IN SITU, in Šibenik for the Clubture Assembly, and finally in Pyrgos, Greece for the Olympia Film Festival.