Short films with Pjer Žalica's mentorship
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Participants of Pjer Žalica's master workshop agree it is a big thing that they were able to spend 5 days learning about documentaries and filming alongside a professional who had received several awards for his films. The workshop that took place from 26 to 30 June in the Mediacentar Sarajevo was the first commercial workshop organised by the NetNovinar Training Centre.
Eleven participants of Pjer Žalica’s master workshop 'How to make a documentary’ had the opportunity to learn about the introduction to documentary film, developing ideas and scenario, camera work and postproduction.
The workshop included participants from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia and Montenegro, Croatia, Slovenia and Macedonia.
“It is interesting that this workshop has brought together people with different backgrounds, so that some colleagues had experience in film and the others didn’t. I'm glad the workshop was regional, it would be nice to stay in touch with these colleagues later, or perhaps even start some sort of cooperation,” says Asim Šahinpašić, EUPM PR officer, from Sarajevo.
Petar Ilić, TV director from TV B92, says this workshop was a new experience for him and gave him a chance to corroborate some of the details he knew from before, considering that he has been working as a director for a long time.
The participants all agree that during the workshop they have learned a lot about the process of documentary film-making. The ideas for a documentary film, important aspects of the idea development process, field work, team work and the way the team operates in the field represent some of the experiences they would find useful in their future work on documentary films.
During workshop the participants produced three short films:
“Posao snova”, by Asim Šahinpašić, Sarajevo“Putopis o Sarajevu”, by Nevenka Čurin, Ljubljana“U glavu”, by Aleksandar Bibanović and Adem Karačić, Sarajevo
The documentary “Posao snova” (eng. ‘Dream job’) talks about how to find a job in the post war Bosnia; “Putopis o Sarajevu” (eng. ‘Travelogue on Sarajevo') conveys the author’s impressions on Sarajevo, focusing on comparison of the pre-war and post-war Sarajevo; “U glavu” follows the author’s stream of consciousness in the process of documentary film-making.
Some participants have presented documentaries they produced before, analysing them in the workshop forum together with the lecturer.
The participants are particularly pleased with their lecturer, and feel it was a precious experience that Pjer had analysed his own movies with the workshop group, encouraging them in this way to develop their own ideas.
The screening of all three documentaries was organised after the workshop, followed by the presentation of certificates on successful completion of the workshop and a reception for the participants.
Pjer Žalica’s master workshop ‘How to make a documentary’ was organised by the NetNovinar – Centre for investigative reporting and media education (Founders: Mediacentar Sarajevo and Centre for investigative journalism, Zagreb).
This was the first in a succession of commercial workshops the NetNovinar Training Centre plans to organise with some of the best-known experts from different fields.