Želimir Gvardiol (Belgrade) is a freelance film director and investigative author.
Graduated Film&TV direction from the Academy of Performing Arts-
Film&TV School (FAMU) in Prague (The Czech Republic); member of the Association of Film Artists of Serbia.
His creative documentaries focus on human rights, freedom of expression, social justice, civil liberties and minorities.
Documentary films:
THE WAY WE ARE, 1990
CRIME AND PUNISHMENT, 1990
I DON’T KNOW WHERE, OR WHEN, OR HOW, 1994
A FATHER, A SON, A HOLY GHOST, 1998
RAVENS, 2001
IT’S ONLY MINE, 2003
TRAITOR vs. WAR CRIMINAL, 2009
THE UNTOUCHABLES, 2011
SECRETS AND DOUBTS, 2012
THE ROOTS OF EVIL, 2015
THE LAST HOPE, 2018
PUBLIC ACCUSATIONS – ODE TO THE TRUTH, 2020
SMALL AND BIG, 2022
He participated in numerous most significant world film festivals recognized by AMPAS, BAFTA, EFA and FIAPF since 1991: Amsterdam, Athens, Atlanta, Berlin (Berlinale), Berlin (EFA Awards), Bilbao (Zinebi), Chicago, Cleveland, Columbus, Derry, Drama, Goteborg, Huesca, Jersey City, Krakow, Leipzig, Melbourne, Nashville, Oberhausen (Kurzfilmtage), Paris, Rio de Janeiro, San Francisco, San Sebastian (Donostia), Sao Paulo, Sarajevo, Sydney, Tampere, Tirana, Toronto, York…
Documentary collections and screening
Centre Georges Pompidou-Bobur (Paris); Berkeley Art Museum&Pacific Film Archive (USA); Stanford University (USA); Harvard Film Archive (USA); Open Society Archives (Budapest); La Enana Marron (Madrid); Academy Film Archive (Los Angeles); Lincoln Center (Human Rights Watch-New York); The Museum of Modern Art (Sundance at MoMA, New York); OSCE (Vienna); United States Institute of Peace (USA); Centre de Cultura Contemporania de Barcelona (Spain); Russian&East European Insitute (USA); AMMAN A Million Movies a Minute-After the War: Life Post-Yugoslavia (San Francisco); Boston Colllege (USA); Colgate University (USA); Columbia University in the City of New York (USA); Ithaca College Library (USA); New York University (USA); The College of New Jersey (USA); University of Minnesota Human Rights Library (USA); Hirshhorn Museum, Wash., DC (USA); Donnell Library, NYC (USA); Cleveland Cinematheque (USA); Cornell Cinema (USA); Image, Atlanta (USA); Newark Museum (USA); Virginia Museum of Fine Arts (USA); Concordia U., Montreal (USA); R.I. School of Design (USA); U. of the Arts, Phila (USA); Chicago Art Inst.(USA); Wichita Center for the Arts, Wichita (USA); Hartford Art School (USA); School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (USA); U.of Southern Louisiana, Lafayette (USA); Cinema Village, NYC (USA); Ouachita Baptist University (USA); University College London (G. Britain); Yugoslav Cinematheque (Belgrade); Faculty of Dramatic Arts (Belgrade); Belgrade Faculty of Philosophy; Domestic Film Day (Arilje, Pancevo, Gornji Milanovac, Nis, Novi Sad, Smederevo, Sabac, Vrnjacka Banja, Belgrade)…
Author’s screenings: Palermo 2004; La Paz 2007; Strumica 2014; Belgrade 2014; Cacak 2017
He was winner of international grants for investigative documentaries: Procirep Fund (Paris), Sundance Documentary Fund (USA), Bertha Fund (Amsterdam), Medienhilfe (Zurich), Eastman Kodak Product Grant (Rochester, New York).
His documentaries have been screened in over 100 countries and have received numerous awards and mentions.