In the Surroundings

The video installation entitled Partenza (Italian for departure, and used in many of Croatia’s island and coastal dialects) express the global insecurity of contemporary society and the fragility of human existence. Metaphorically, they address a story about departure, waiting and separation, dictated by migrations. In the early 20th century, it was usual yet traumatic for men to leave Croatian islands (mostly bound for the countries of South America) due to poverty and hunger. One of these tragic stories is weaved into the author’s family history. The installation is inspired by the life story of Renata’s great-grandmother who lived on the island of Brač, whose husband went to Chile looking for work in order to secure his family’s future. Like many of the island’s women, she waited for her husband who, like many of the men, never returned.

Celebrating the end of World War II and liberation of their city, a group of students is set on holding a cultural evening. They invite Ema, a reclusive piano teacher from the same building, to play for them. Ema declines, but starts reminscing back on her own life and the historical events that have seemingly overshadowed it.

Communist party commissar Ivica is sent to the lowland village to monitor the local partisan squad. Despite their disagreements he befriends their leader Dikan and they plan to evacuate the chief headquarters. Dikan also sees the opportunity to have his personal revenge on an enemy officer, responsible for death of one of his men.

Siniša Mesjak, an arrogant and ambitious politician on the rise, finds himself in the middle of a scandal. To hide him from the public, the president appoints him as the commissioner of Croatian government on the furthest settled island Trečić, where he is tasked with the organization of local elections. The previous seven commissioners haven't succeeded.

Destinies of few people from Dubrovnik, as well as Croatian fighters against Yugoslav People's Army in the battle of Srdj, mountain behind the town's walls.

A pseudo biography of Dora Pejačević (10 September 1885 - 5 March 1923), a Croatian composer.

On the eve of Yugoslav war in 1991, English ecologist Henry comes to the city of Osijek in order to save the world's oldest oak. After many dangerous and funny adventures, they finally arrive to nearby village where the oak is located.

During the Nazi-occupied Ustasha regime "NDH" in former Yugoslavia during WWII, little girl Dara is sent to the concentration camp complex Jasenovac in Croatia also known as "Balkan's Auschwitz".

I. S. returns after many years to his hometown, from which he escaped after WW II, fearing that, as a civil clerk of the NDH, could suffer prosecution from the new government. He has been falsely accused to be a member of Ustasha movement.

Ivan is a 36-year old ex-rock singer and a disillusioned war veteran who lost both legs in the recent Croatian Homeland War. His father, Izidor, was a well-known political prisoner in the former Yugoslavia, and is now standing as an independent candidate for the Croatian Parliament. Then a face from the past re-appears: an impoverished Serbian refugee called Simo, who has recently returned to the town. As an ex-communist official, Simo imprisoned Izidor decades ago. He knows certain facts about Izidor that could destroy his reputation and wreck his political campaign. Simo demands money, in return for his silence and he also has a secret rendezvous with Ivan's mother, Ana. Soon a long-buried secret surfaces once more - with huge repercussions for Ivan. He starts to provoke hard-line Croatians by singing Serbian nationalistic songs, daring them to kill him.

ZG80 is a prequel of Metastaze. The movie brings back its characters to prewar Yugoslavia where they, as part of Bad Blue Boys, go on a football match in Belgrade to see Dinamo play against Crvena Zvezda. They encounter guest fans, their arch rivals Delije, in a series of events that lead to football fans war on the streets of Belgrade.

Set in pre-World War II Zagreb, the story is seen through the eyes of 6-year-old Perica Šafranek (played by Tomislav Žganec). A dandy from Zagreb, Mr Fulir (played by Relja Bašić), starts flirting with Perica's mother during a family picnic. At first, Perica's father doesn't notice anything, but wants to marry off Perica's aunt, so he invites the man to their residence. After multiple rendezvous, Perica's father becomes aware of Fulir's attempts to seduce his wife.

In this sun soaked adventure for the entire family, a group of five orphaned children form their own makeshift family while attempting to operate outside the rules of society. Though they must sometimes steal to survive, their loyalty to one another means that they will always have a brother or sister to count on.

A family from isolated village in Lika makes a good living out of American pension earned by their late granddad Djuradj and received by his widow Nedja. The very existence of a family is threatened when Nedja dies, but the head of the family comes up with a cunning plan.

"Long Dark Night" follows the life of the fictional character Iva Kolar: his experiences as a Croatian University student, his role as a Partisan fighting Hitler's troops during W.W. II, his involvement in his nation's post-war government, and his eventual downfall.

Maria lives with his son Darko in a Croatian village that is attacked by Serbian Chetniks one night. They manage to escape and hide in a nearby town, where Maria takes a job at the laundry and Darko joins the Croatian Defenders, leading to tragedy.

A doctor opens an ordination in the abandoned house of his parents which is supposedly haunted by ghosts, as claimed by its only tenants - the old servant and two maids. He starts having nightmares in which a pretty and young girl shows up.

At the beginning of 1991, Yugoslav army did not acknowledge Croatian's independence, and still holding few military barracks in Croatia. Gajski travels to an island to get his son out of the army. Locals have besieged the barracks and organized a festival to try with singing and recitals to get major Aleksa and his soldiers to surrender, but Aleksa has explosives thru the barracks and wants to blow up the island.

The adventures of a small town Croatian family during the 1960s. The decade will leave eternal marks on all of their members, but most of the story focuses on the youngest one, a boy, Frula, who discovers the love and fashion of the time.

The year is 1940, Croatian coast, Kingdom of Yugoslavia. Jakov, a poor peasant from hinterland, and his daughter Mala, go to the city, trying to find a job to repay a debt...