No Man’s Land

Exciting Oscar-winning film by Danis Tanovic about the absurdity of the war in former Yugoslavia. When a Bosnian and a Serbian soldier get stuck in a trench, their fate becomes a media hype.

Between war and peace, between life and death lies No Man’s Land. That’s where two soldiers are: Bosnian Ciki and Serbian Nino. They are stuck in a trench between the enemy lines. Cera, a third soldier whom everyone thought was dead, stepped on a mine that will explode once his body is moved. When Cera regains consciousness, a bizarre status quo arises in which the enemy soldiers will have to work together to be rescued from their awkward position. French UN peacekeeper Merchand is informed about the situation but his superiors do not allow him to take action. When an ambitious reporter gets wind of this, the no man’s land turns from a battlefield into a circus.
The film, shot on several locations in Slovenia, holds a mirror up to the face of all those involved, not only Bosnian and Serbian soldiers but also UN peacekeepers and the international media. As such, it is a metaphor for the insanity of war.
Bosnian filmmaker Danis Tanovic also directed Cirkus Colombia and An Episode in the Life of an Iron Picker, which was released in 2013. Both films can be seen at the 2014 Movies that Matter Festival in the retrospective dedicated to his work.