''Witnesses'' ( hr, Svjedoci) is a

Croatian Croatian may refer to: * Croatia *Croatian language *Croatian people *Croatians (demonym) See also * * * Croatan (disambiguation) * Croatia (disambiguation) * Croatoan (disambiguation) * Hrvatski (disambiguation) * Hrvatsko (disambiguation) * S ...

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super ...

directed by

Vinko Brešan Vinko Brešan (; born 3 February 1964) is a Croatian film director who emerged into international renown with three critically acclaimed and award-winning films that, each in its own way, broke some of the perceived taboos of Croatian cinema in ...

. It was released in 2003.

Synopsis

The plot of the movie is centered in the city of

Karlovac Karlovac () is a city in central Croatia. According to the 2011 census, its population was 55,705. Karlovac is the administrative centre of Karlovac County. The city is located on the Zagreb- Rijeka highway and railway line, south-west of Zagr ...

in 1992, during the

Croatian War of Independence The Croatian War of Independence was fought from 1991 to 1995 between Croat forces loyal to the Government of Croatia—which had declared independence from the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY)—and the Serb-controlled Yu ...

. The front lines, where Croatian and Serbian forces fight each other, lie near the city. Meanwhile, in the city of Karlovac, a Serbian civilian Vasić is murdered. The story follows the local police officer Barbir (

Dražen Kühn Dražen Kühn (born 1965) is a Croatian actor. He has appeared in more than forty films since 1991. Selected filmography Film References External links * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kuhn, Drazen 1965 births Living people People from Špišić Buko ...

), who tries to solve the murder in spite of ethnic hatred and war revolving nearby. The film's screenplay is based on

Jurica Pavičić Jurica Pavičić (born 2 November 1965 in Split) is a Croatian writer, columnist and film critic. Pavičić's screenplay for '' Witnesses'' (''Svjedoci''), Vinko Brešan's 2003 film, won the Golden Arena for Best Screenplay in the 2003 Pula Film ...

's 1997 novel ''Alabaster Sheep'' (''Ovce od gipsa''), which was in turn inspired by a real-life case of murder of the Zec family in Zagreb in 1991.

Cast

Leon Lučev Leon Lučev (born 1970 in Šibenik) is a Croatian actor. He had his feature film debut in Vinko Brešan's 1996 comedy '' How the War Started on My Island''. Since then, he has amassed lead roles in numerous high-profile European films, including ...

as Krešo *

Alma Prica Alma Prica (born 17 September 1962) is a Croatian actress. She graduated from the Zagreb Academy of Drama Arts in 1985 and then joined the Croatian National Theatre in Zagreb (HNK Zagreb) in 1986. Although primarily a theatre actress, she also ...

as Novinarka *

Mirjana Karanović Mirjana Karanović ( sr-cyr, Мирјана Карановић; born 28 January 1957) is a Serbian actress, film director and screenwriter. Considered one of the best Serbian and Yugoslavian actresses of all time, she is probably the best known f ...

as Majka *

as Barbir *

Krešimir Mikić Krešimir Mikić (; born 17 April 1974) is a Croatian theatre and film actor. He is known for his roles in acclaimed feature films, including Zlatko in '' Sex, Drink and Bloodshed'', Krešo in '' I Love You'', Mirko in ''The Melon Route'', and Do ...

as Joško * Marinko Prga as Vojo * Bojan Navojec as Barić *

Ljubomir Kerekeš Ljubomir Kerekeš (born 16 January 1960) is a Croatian film, theatre and television actor. Life and work Kerekeš began acting in 1980 in his hometown of Varaždin and between 1982 and 1996 was a member of the theatre ensemble at the Croatian Na ...

as Dr. Matić *

Predrag 'Predjo' Vušović Predrag ( sr-cyr, Предраг) is a Slavic masculine given name, predominantly borne by ethnic Slavs, derived from ''pre-'' ("very, much") and ''-drag'' ("dear, beloved"), both common in Slavic dithematic names. It roughly means "very beloved" ...

as Ljubo *

Tarik Filipović Tarik Filipović (born 11 March 1972) is a Bosnian-Croatian television presenter and actor. He has appeared in over 800 theatre plays since his debut in 1985. He has also been in many films and TV dramas produced throughout the areas of former Yu ...

as Javni tužitelj *

Rene Bitorajac Rene Bitorajac (; born 2 March 1972) is a Croatian actor. He has appeared in a number of Croatian and Bosnian films since the 1980s. Most notably, he starred in the 2001 Academy Award-winning Bosnian film ''No Man's Land''. He is also known for st ...

as Albanac *

Ivo Gregurević Ivo Gregurević (; 7 October 1952 – 1 January 2019) was a Croatian film, theatre and television actor. Throughout over a quarter of a century, Gregurević played rural bullies and arrogant nouveau riche and became one of Croatia's best known ...

as Otac *

Vanja Drach Vanja Drach (1 February 1932 – 6 September 2009) was a Croatian theatre and film actor. His film and television credits include '' H-8'', ''Lud, zbunjen, normalan'', '' Gospa'', '' Charuga'', '' Kapelski kresovi'', ''Nikola Tesla'', ''Svjedoci ...

as Penzioner *

Helena Buljan Helena Buljan (born 9 July 1941) is a Croatian actress. She appeared in more than sixty films since 1964. Selected filmography References External links * 1941 births Living people Croatian film actresses Vladimir Nazor Award winn ...

as Susjeda

References

External links

* 2003 films 2000s Croatian-language films 2003 drama films Films based on Croatian novels Yugoslav Wars films Works about the Croatian War of Independence Croatian drama films {{Croatia-film-stub