“VITIĆ DANCES” at the 22nd CROSSING EUROPE Film Festival in Linz – May 2–4

Upon the invitation of the curators and coordinators of the 22nd Crossing Europe Film Festival in Linz — Sabine Gebetsroither, Katharina Riedler, and Gerald Wöß — our feature-length documentary “Vitić Dances” will be presented in the section Architecture and Society.

Since its premiere at ZGDOX in 2023, the film has travelled widely, screening in North Macedonia, Bulgaria, Serbia, India, Sweden, Ecuador, the United Kingdom, Malta, Turkey, Uruguay, Italy, Bolivia, Armenia, Romania, and Hungary.

Filmed over nearly two decades and edited over the course of five years, Vitić Dances vividly explores the complex relationship between architecture and society through the lens of the restoration of the mixed-use residential and office complex of the National Bank, designed by architect Ivo Vitić in Zagreb. The building’s restoration, carried out between 2016 and 2018, was part of the community art project of the same name by Boris Bakal and the Shadow Casters, and represents the largest investment in residential renovation in Croatia since World War II.

The film has received nine distinguished awards to date, including:

• Special Recognition at the 2023 Days of Croatian Film,
• Special Award for Memory Preservation and Cultural Heritage at the 18th Balkan New Film Festival in Stockholm (Sweden),
• Best Documentary Award at the 2024 Asian Talent International Film Festival in Ahmednagar (India),
• Best Documentary at the San Antonio Festival (Ecuador),
• Best Film, Best Production, and Best Director at the London Festival, (UK)
• Third Prize at the Architecture and Film Festival in Venice (Italy).

In addition to Crossing Europe, Vitić Dances has also been invited to festivals in Germany (Berlin Z/KU), Bangladesh, France, and Croatia in 2025.

Director: Boris Bakal
Screenwriters: Boris Bakal, Martin Semenčić
Cinematographers: Adam Luka Turjak, Ante Cvitanović, Bojana Burnać, Bojan Haron Markičević, Boris Bakal, Damjan Nenadić, Danko Vučinović, David Oguić, Davorin Fahn, Dubravka Kurobaša, Filip Tot, Ines Lambert, Jadran Boban, Jasenko Rasol, Katarina Pejović, Lovro Cepelak, Mark Modrić, Rino Barbir, Sandra Uskoković, Plakor Kovačević, Srđan Kovačević, Veno Mušinović, Vedran Senjanović, Tamara Cesarac, Tomislav Sutlar, Tomaš Kratochvíl
Editor: Martin Semenčić
Composer: Stanko Juzbašić
Producers: Boris Bakal, Adrijana Prugovečki, Tibor Keser, Ivan Kelava
Production Company: Multimedia Arts Organization Shadow Casters
Co-producers: Croatian Radiotelevision (HRT)

Supported by:
City of Zagreb – Department for Culture and Civil Society,
National Foundation for Civil Society Development,
Kultura Nova Foundation,
Croatian Audiovisual Centre (HAVC)