TEACHING EXPERIENCE AND TEACHING PHILOSOPHY

My engagement in teaching started in 2006. Film and TV Directing Department at

the Faculty of Dramatic Arts offered me a position of Graduate Teaching Assistant. I was
given a possibility to choose between Fiction Film Directing and Documentary Directing. The
ambition I had was to contribute to the field of documentary. And my choice pleased the
Department since not many were interested in teaching in this field. Under supervision of
Mr. Janko Baljak, professor, I got acquainted with the syllabi and their requirements. At this
moment, the Documentary courses were a part of undergraduate studies program.
During first 3 years my obligations at the courses were: following the process of
students’ practical works (short documentaries) from the idea phase to the finished film,
also reading and consulting on their seminar (an independent work in which the student
handles given or self-selected topic) and administrative work. Gradually, I was entrusted
with 2 independent lectures per semester, which topics were common contemporary
practices in documentary production and distribution; for example, training for the Pitch,
pitching forums, broadcasters’ slots and commissioning editors, similarities and differences
between documentary for cinema and TV documentaries etc.
In the next two 2 years my obligations broadened with more independent lectures
on history of documentary, analysis of historical contexts in which certain documentaries
were made and analysis of certain authors’ opus. Entailed 4 lectures per semester.
Starting the school year 2011/2012 documentary courses were finally included in the
programs of Master studies and professor Janko Baljak started to lead all the courses in this
level of studies, leaving me to take over and be fully involved in all the documentary courses
in BA studies.
Since February 2012 I have been fully employed at the faculty as Associate Lecturer.
And in February 2015 I was promoted to the academic title of Assistant Professor. So this is
my sixth school year in which I teach history, theory and practices of Documentary. I teach
two different kinds of courses: the first is specialized for the students of Film and TV
Directing Department and the second is for students of other film departments.
Students of Film and TV Directing learn about and make documentaries during 4
semesters. Documentary course for them is obligatory and final results and valuation they
receive at the end of these two years takes big percentage in the final results of their
studies.
During these 4 semesters, they are required to make 3 practical works - 3 short
documentaries. At the end of the first semester the task is to prepare, shoot and edit
reportage up to 5 minutes in duration. This is students' first encounter with trying to
creatively represent reality. It is work they do on their own. Their task is to answer “Five
Ws” predominantly using visual tools. It is the moment when they realize that reality could
be rearranged or even manipulated. Also, it’s the exercise that gives them experience of
documentary reality compared to reality they are experiencing through their senses.
Second semester ends with short film that is a portrait of a person (living or
deceased) up to 12 min in duration. For this exercise the students are working with a small
crew (students of camera, sound recording and editing). The tasks revolve around skills of
interviewing, using of archives, pacing the story and dramaturgy, differentiating between
important and non-important facts or parts of the story of the person. Also it takes more
days to prepare and shoot, so it’s also learning about the dynamics of the subject and how
the dynamics between the crew effects the shooting.

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 Third and fourth semester is dedicated to the research, preparation, shooting and
editing of a longer documentary (it could be up to 60 minutes long) that we broadly call
investigative documentary. This film is more complex, it demands much more time to be
made, it entails working with crew members but also calls for engagement in social issues,
demands profound and unique treatment of the theme and creative expression. Here the
emphasis is on: methods of research and development of the idea, longer shooting periods,
film form and artistic approach.
Besides this practical side of the courses they have to write one seminar per
semester that can be about practical or theoretical topics. Lectures include history and
theory of documentary, presentations of documentary modes and forms, development of
techniques and practices. Also during lectures we bring up ethical questions about
treatment of themes and protagonists in the documentaries, discuss propaganda value of
the documentaries through film history and current production. I speak about intentions of
the filmmaker, subject matter and the truth. Courses also entails informing the students
about the current ways of production and distribution of documentaries (how to find funds,
where are the pitching forums, what do commissioning editors do, how to write their
projects and how to present them, what are the main characteristics of a prominent
documentary filmmaker). Big part of the course is screenings of documentaries - old and
contemporary - depending on the theme we are diving into. Analysis of these films is
mandatory part of the lectures. I try to develop their critical opinion, their instincts, their
ethics.
Students of the other departments attend documentary course during 2 semesters -
one year. For some of the departments documentary course is obligatory (departments:
Camera and Editing) and for the others elective (departments: Film and TV Production,
Recording and Sound Design, Dramaturgy and Theatre Directing). Comparing to the course
for students of directing this course is less intense. These students are not obliged to make
short documentaries but I strongly encourage them to take on the challenge. And they often
do. This is, of course, taken in the consideration for their evaluation. Some decide to
contribute to films that students of directing are making but some make the films on their
own. It is extra work for me (guiding them through the process) but I find big satisfaction in
it. In this course, themes of the lectures revolve around questions what is documentary,
what is the nature of documentary, historic overview of the development of documentary
forms, perception of reality through documentaries and ethical questions. On practical
questions, I speak about every crew member and his/hers function and contribution.
Screenings of documentaries and analysis of these are part of the course. Examples of
certain forms and methods of documentary filmmaking are necessary for the learning
process.
In the last 4 years the results are more than satisfactory. My students have produced
works that have found recognition both in student and professional circles. Participation of
students’ documentaries on international festivals has become very common and, I’m proud
to say, some of these titles are often on the lists of award winners.
What I try to teach my students is to understand how important talking about the
reality, about this immediate world, is; how important stories are around them, in their
immediate surroundings; how there’s not one established view on certain issue; how their
unique but universal opinion can become a documentary; how important it is to repeatedly
investigate human beings - their good and their bad sides. Also I talk to them about
understanding of others, restraint from judging and nourishing empathy. I try to make them
worry a bit about the injustice, deprivation, lack of opportunity. And I encourage them to be
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curious, bold and uncompromising. I put an effort to teach them to be punctual,
responsible, professional and equipped, with knowledge and skills, for the time after the
university. Because that time is going to be less safe but maybe more interesting.

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