Zaim Muzaferija Movies

This drama follows the activities of Muslims in a Bosnian village as they prepare for and put on a traditional marriage ceremony for one of their own. This is the first feature film by the director, who usually makes documentaries, and it has a documentary flavor. This film is particularly important because, since the outbreaks of violence in the Balkans, traditional life as shown here has been disrupted to a very great extent. In a sense, even though this is a drama rather than a documentary, this film is an important historical document of a bygone age. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi

A Serbian family leaves the troubled Kosovo region after Moslems rape the daughter in front of her mother. When they leave their home after the assault, their family tombs are desecrated, and the move to northern Serbia is marked by rejection by the local townspeople of their new community. Meto Jovanovski plays Bozidar, a bus driver who left Kosovo 15 years before and who helps the family adjust to their new home. The family troubles follow them, as Eastern and Western culture clash with Moslem and Christian factions soon engaged in a bloody civil war. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi

In this children's film, based on stories by Banko Copic, two schoolboys from a 1922 Bosnian village have a series of adventures which take them away from their homes for the first time. Along the way, they see policemen taking food and animals from farmers who have not paid their taxes, and they meet up with the Haiducks, a band of robbers who steal from the rich and give to the poor. The benevolent robbers are induced to leave their mountain hideaway to avenge the poor farmers. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi

The independence of Yugoslavia in the '70s from the rest of the Eastern Bloc is nowhere more clearly indicated than in this satirical film which makes a mockery of socialist boasts of progress and goodness. A "shock force" worker, (or "stakhanovite") was someone who was sent into a production situation to serve as an example and to increase output. In order to do this, they often had to work at a pace and in a manner which was life-threatening. This practice was initiated in the Stalin era using the simple Russian coal miner Alexei Stakhanov (hence, "stakhanovite") and was a major part of the propaganda efforts of the time. In this film, sometime in the past, such a squad had been sent to work in a Yugoslav coal mine, and its members won national publicity, medals, and many official commendations. However, in the present, one of its members is reduced to serving as a gate guard. His sincere and earnest efforts have won him the contempt of contemporary young workers. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi

A young German boy is sent to an orphanage in Yugoslavia. The director of the school alters the boy's papers to insure he is not hounded for being German; although the war is over, anti-Nazi sentiment runs rampant among the boys at the school. The newcomer's background is revealed when he and the other boys get drunk. When he plays a Teutonic tune on his harmonica, he is accused of being German. The hapless harmonica player is put on trial by the other boys, interrogated, and nearly killed while the director remains helpless to stop the proceedings. It will take time and patience to change the orphans from readily accepting and acting out the violence they have known all their lives. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi