FACTORY TO THE WORKERS
Srđan Kovačević
Editor: Damir Čučić
Fade-in, Croatia, 100
A rebellious worker before retirement is committed to saving his factory. He organised workers to stop the production shutdown, but surviving the capitalist economy is an even bigger challenge.
The documentary portraits the struggle for survival of ITAS, the only factory in Croatia which was taken over and defended by its workers during postwar privatization. Today the workers are trying to find a model of joint ownership. The author follows them day to day, vivisecting the concept of workers self-management in the time of market economy and giving a close look of industry on the EU periphery. Interpersonal relations, formal and informal hierarchies, decision making processes and workers’ (self)critique form a complex narrative structure which shows the conditions of collective action.
Director’s biography: Srđan Kovačević / IMDb
Born in Zagreb, Yugoslavia in 1982. Received MA degree in cinematography on Academy of Dramatic Arts, University of Zagreb in 2009. From year 2000. working as cameraman for various independent regional film and tv productions (FADE IN, PRO.BA, DRUGI PLAN, FACTUM, RESTART, etc.) shooting documentary films, TV-series, reportage and short films.
Director’s statement
I belong to a generation whose coming of age was strongly marked by the process of Croatian postwar privatization, the transition of commonly owned resources into private hands. I’ve witnessed the shutdown of many factories which kept whole families fed. ITAS was a different example: the only factory in ex Yugoslavia (and Europe), in which the workers organized, physically took over and managed to continue the production. My initial intention was to show the good example, to share the knowledge with the hope that such endeavors can pave the way to a more fair economy. But my daily presence among workers made me realize that the story is much more complex.
Where are we at?
Production budget: 130.000,00 EUR
Needed for completion: 32.000,00 EUR
Territories available: All
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Production Company profile
FADE IN is an award winning Croatian independent production company. In 20 years of existence, it produced more than 60 short and feature films, 250 episodes of television series, dozens of educational films, commercials and more than 1000 television for public television. For its work FADE IN has won many awards and films were selected for many festivals (Award for Best Production by Days of Croatian Film awarded three times, ZagrebDox, HotDocs, Sarajevo FF, Warsaw FF, Edinbourgh FF, Trieste FF, Jihlava IFF, Short Shorts Mexico ZurichFF, DOK Lepzig and others).
Email: office@fadein.hr