Rude is a settlement in Zagreb County, Croatia, which in 2011 had a population of just 1,131 people. After spending 40 years in Germany, Dujo Jurkovic returned to Rude, his home village, and he noticed that things were not quite the same as when he left. He always hoped that when he retired, he would come here and relax, and the village will be more prosperous than in his childhood, but it seems that even people have changed their mentalities and way of living.

​

Because of the historic and political changes, people have chosen to emigrate or to move in the bigger cities throughout the country, like it happens nowadays everywhere, especially when the young leave to study high school or college - institutions that the village cannot provide for them - or for better paid jobs, because of the lack of industry. Furthermore, the majority doesn’t want to return in the village and the young workforce is almost nonexistent - and so is the birth rate.

​

Dujo and his old companions think that the younger generation isn’t better or smarter, but they’ve lost their identity, because they don’t know how to live simple anymore. They’ve lost the connection with nature and they’ve forgot their origins. Life is just not the same anymore, but Dujo and his folks manage to shape the real image of how they think this life should be lived, away from the stress of the bigger cities, while trying to adapt to the transformation of their home country. We really appreciate the honesty of this film documentary and we’re glad to see that people are still interested in simple way of living the life, and not forgetting their origins.

​

The creative team has a good understanding of the cinematic time and allows each sequence to properly unfold. We consider the team of filmmakers to be talented, skillful and meticulous in their work, and we’re glad to have this authentic short documentary in our competition.