Deserters

Deserters are a film about a generation of Bosnian youth from the city of Mostar swept by the devastating war at the brink of their maturity and tough decision to escape from it. Their exile stories from 90’s, contained in letters mailed to the director of this film from refugee camps scattered across Europe are confronted with present condition of the city they were forced to leave. A film about missing generation, exile, hard choices, and the answer to the most difficult question of any war: to stay or to run?
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Directed by: Damir Markovina
Cinematography: Krešimir Štulina
Animation: Marko Tadić
Editing: Dora Slakoper
Music: Manja Ristić
Sound: Miroslav Piškulić
Producer: Damir Markovina
Production: Akademija dramske umjetnosti (ADU)
Festivals: Jihlava International Documentary Film Festival – Best Central and East European Documentary Film; Best Sound Design Award (Miroslav Piškulić), Trieste Film Festival, ZagrebDox – Special Mention (Movies That Matter), Sarajevo Film Festival, Verzio International Human Rights Documentary Film Festival – Special Jury Mention in Viewfinder Section, Oktavijan Award for Best Short and Middle-length Documentary Film 2024

About the author:

Damir Markovina was born in 1973. in Belgrade. He graduated at MA of Film and TV Directing (Documentary film) at Academy of Dramatic Art in Zagreb, Croatia in 2022, after his degree in Acting, also at the Academy of Dramatic Art in Zagreb, Croatia. He has performed as an actor in many Croatian films and television series. He is a film director, producer, and a writer. His short documentary film “The Shift” was selected in 25th Sarajevo Film Festival Official selection – Student competition 2019. His mid-lenght documentary film “Wait for Me” won the AJB DOC festival Sarajevo 2021, Main Award at Pula Film Festival in student documentary film competition, and the Oktavijan – Croatian national FIPRESCI award for best national short documentary. His second mid-lenght documentary film “Deserters” won Best Central and East European film award and Best sound design award at Ji.hlava IDFF 2022.