Life in Fresh Air

Last year, IDFA screened the Croatian film WHO WANTS TO BE A PRESIDENT, about the last election campaign of Franjo Tudjman and his opponents. This year, another film about elections in Croatia is screened, but this time about the village of Djulovac in Western Slavonia. The place is very small, but it has many political fractions. The main issue is how to win the votes from the new inhabitants of the village. They are Croats who, after arriving from Kosovo, moved into houses formerly inhabited by Serbs who left at the beginning of the war. At the same time, the politicians are also eager to obtain the votes of the returning Serbs who are now reclaiming their houses. Quite humorous, with some very strong cinéma vérité sequences, the film investigates the spirit of the villagers at a time when human values like honesty and dignity are about to lose their meaning. Will the wounds inflicted during the war be deepened or is there a chance of creating solidarity in peace? The film does not intend to provide any answers; it merely poses questions that are crucial to the whole of former Yugoslavia. Silvestar Kolbas’s camera wonderfully captures the hidden but quite significant moments of hesitation, dilemma and human malice dominating the village. Director Danko Volaric’s style suggests a benign irony that is reminiscent of the great Czech films.