Land of Knowledge
view in croatian- 2011
- 64'
- digibeta
- color
- Orig. Title: Zemlja znanja
On 20 April 2009, the students of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences in Zagreb took control over the faculty, demanding the government of the Republic of Croatia to abolish all forms of university tuition fees. During the blockage, the students took all the decisions by the method of direct democracy. Therefore, the Plenum, a body consisting of 300 students, appears as the title character in the documentary. At the same time we keep a close watch on another reality, the one depicted by the media, featuring politically important people who decide on our daily lives and our future. The film Land of Knowledge documents 35 days of the faculty blockage, during which the government completely ignored the students.
- Director
- Saša Ban
- Screenplay
- Saša Ban, Nevenka Sablić, Vanja Siruček
- Cinematography
- Hrvoje Franjić
- Editing
- Vanja Siruček
- Music
- Luka Barbić, Aleksandar Antić
- Sound Design
- Robert Stanić
- Producers
- Dana Budisavljević, Olinka Vištica
- Production
- Hulahop
- Co-production
- Hrvatska radiotelevizija (HRT)
Saša Ban (1978) graduated in comparative literature and philosophy from the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences in Zagreb, as well as film and TV directing at the Academy of Dramatic Art. His short film Farewell (2003) and documentary Park (2004) have been shown at numerous festivals and have won several awards. In 2005, he started working for the TV documentary series The Exchange and has since worked on numerous projects for TV. In addition, he has made several commercials and music videos. In 2010, Ban made a short documentary for Croatian Radiotelevision (HRT), as part of the European Broadcast Union’s programme for children and youth. Almost all his films have been shown at film festivals in Croatia and abroad, especially the short fiction film Interior, Apartment, Night, which received a special jury mention at Cottbus Film Festival in 2009. His work also earned him a coveted place on a workshop at Motovun, mentored by Carsten Fromberg. He has been a member of the Croatian Film Directors’ Guild since 2007.
