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Ivan Ramljak’s documentary Peacemaker, produced by Factum, has won the Dokumetar Award for Best Croatian Documentary Film of 2025. The new recognition follows the film’s exceptionally successful domestic and international festival run, marked by numerous screenings and awards.
Ivan Ramljak’s documentary Peacemaker, produced by Factum, has won the Dokumetar Award for Best Croatian Documentary Film of 2025. The seventh edition of the award, presented by the editorial team of Dokumentarni.net, was announced on 30 September at Zagreb’s Dokukino KIC as part of the second edition of Dokumentarni.days. This is Ramljak’s second Dokumetar Award, following the recognition received by Once Upon a Youth in 2021.
In its statement, the jury described Peacemaker as a meticulous study of wartime and post-war society, examining the construction and dismantling of myths as well as the power and manipulation of media images. The jury particularly highlighted the film’s precise editing, political relevance and its ability to question deeply rooted social narratives, calling it “one of the most accomplished examples of responsible cinematic and social engagement”. The award ceremony was followed by a screening of the film and a conversation with Ivan Ramljak, moderated by film critic Lucija Furač.
The award was presented within the two-day Dokumentarni.days programme, dedicated to the visibility of Croatian documentary cinema and to some of the key questions currently facing the field. Three panel discussions addressed the ethical representation of protagonists and sensitive social experiences, models of financing and the life of documentary films after their festival circulation, as well as the relationship between film, history and ideology in contemporary Croatian society. The discussions brought together directors, producers, critics and representatives of the audiovisual sector, including Tiha Gudac, Hrvoje Mabić, Chris Marcich, Bruno Pavić, Višnja Pentić, Dina Pokrajac i Nenad Puhovski.
The new recognition continues the remarkably successful festival journey of Peacemaker. The film focuses on the final months in the life of Josip Reihl-Kir, the Osijek chief of police who, on the eve of the war in 1991, sought to prevent the escalation of violence through negotiation and dialogue. Over the past two years, the film has been presented at numerous prominent festivals and international film events.
Its biggest international success came at DOK Leipzig, where in 2025 it won the Golden Dove for Best International Documentary Film. During 2026, the film was also screened in the Doc Fortnight programme at New York’s Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), received special recognitions at Pordenone Docs Fest in Italy and Underhill Fest in Montenegro, and travelled to festivals and screenings in Nancy, Prizren, Skopje, Sarajevo, Maribor, Pančevo, Munich and The Hague.
The Dokumetar Award thus joins a growing list of recognitions received by Peacemaker in Croatia and abroad, confirming the continued interest of audiences, critics and festival programmers in a film whose subject, more than three decades after the events it explores, continues to raise questions of responsibility, memory, political violence and the possibility of dialogue.