The Blacks   

Zvonimir Jurić, one of the directors of The Blacks, finally arrived to Liffe. After the screening at Cinema Vič Jurić chatted with the audience, explaining that the film was developed gradually. At first, he devised the atmosphere of the film (he wanted to shoot something exciting, but somewhat terrifying), then he suggested to his colleague, co-director Goran Dević, to use a couple of outstandingly talented young Croatian actors. He decided that the film would focus on war, as war is predominantly a masculine affair, and in the Balkans still a rather topical subject. The paramilitary unit The Blacks actually did not exist, but the filmmakers based it on factual events and added fictive characters and episodes. They audaciously addressed the topic of the ‘black’ military units active during the Balkan Wars in the 1990s. Notwithstanding the adverse response in Croatia, the directors firmly believe in their work.

                                                                                        Barbara Spreiz