The award for the best documentary goes to “When the War Comes” by Jan Gebert. Slovak adolescents spend their leisure time in paramilitary camps of the “Slovak Recruits”, an association that has made the “preservation of Slovak values” their mission. Protagonist Peter Švrček, head of this right-wing youth movement, acts decently, loyally to the constitution, and he avoids making extremist statements at any cost. Still, his right-wing attitude is apparent.

These days, right-wing and radically right-wing parties win elections all over Europe. For Austria, also, this was recently the case. Their leaders are no bald-headed Nazis but young, good-looking, charismatic, smart, slick “achievers”. They have broad knowledge on the media and know exactly how to present themselves – always apposite to what is required at the moment – just like our protagonist, a wolf in sheep’s clothing. Facts are intentionally reinterpreted and turned into alternative truths.

The parallels to the way current Austrian members of parliament are presented in the media are alarmingly evident – especially FPÖ vice chancellor Heinz-Christian Strache who himself has taken part in paramilitaries at the beginning of his political career –, as well as the perfectly planned medial staging of Sebastian Kurz who, just like our film protagonist, knows how to present radically exclusive statements in a smart, seemingly harmless way and to make them socially acceptable.

The jury has chosen a film that has the finger firmly on the pulse in an unspeakably powerful way. It seems unagitated and goes without unnecessary staging or aestheticising, it is at the right place at the right time and, therefore, on point. The film has impressed the jury because it shows the mechanisms of power and exposes the system without a wagging finger, voice-overs or large-scale production.

* Best Documentary in the Central & Eastern Europe Competition - 2018 ASTRA FILM FESTIVAL AWARD
Jury Statement:
In ‘When the War Comes’ we witness the daily routines of a growing extremist civilian army, following the head of a paramilitary group who with ease interacts with a public system that normalizes xenophobia. This film serves as a warning as it exposes the meticulous preparations for a confrontation this is now made ever more likely.