Rene Bitorajac Movies

In this charming but off-kilter comedy, Bozo (Branko Djuric, who also wrote and directed the movie) is a scruffy but well-meaning loser from Bosnia who goes into an emotional tailspin after his Slovenian girlfriend, Spela (Tanja Ribic), gives him his walking papers. Determined to win her back, Bozo wants to prove that he can support her both emotionally and financially, and toward the latter goal, he starts working with his pal Goran (Dragan Bjelogrlic), who fixes Bozo up with a number of dubious jobs, from impersonating famous cartoon characters to transporting illegal aliens across the border. In time, Spela takes Bozo back, but he starts having second thoughts about their relationship when she finds out Goran has been paying her money to let him look at her naked. Kajmak in Marmelada proved to be a massive box-office success in Slovenia, where it became the biggest homegrown box-office success of all time, and the third top-grossing film overall. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

The grim futility of the war between Bosnia and Serbia is reduced to its essence as two enemy soldiers are forced to share a wary trust for one another in this drama. A group of Bosnian soldiers are advancing upon Serbian territory during a misty night when the fog lifts at daybreak, making them plainly visible to their enemy. Serb forces open fire upon them, and soon only Chiki (Brancko Djuric) is still alive, after diving into a trench in no man's land. Two Serbian soldiers scouting the area set up a land mine using the body of a Bosnian soldier as "bait;" if moved, the mine will jump into the air and explode. Chiki watches as the soldiers set the trap, and furious at the disrespect to his fallen comrades, he kills one of the Serbs, and takes the other, Nino (Rene Bitorajac), hostage. With both soldiers alone and equally armed, they find themselves at a stalemate, and begin trying to attract help from either side. Eventually, the two men are found by a squadron of French soldiers attached to a U.N. peacekeeping unit; now held by supposedly neutral forces, Chiki and Nino are with the French troops when it's discovered that the dead Bosnian soldier isn't dead after all, though no one is sure how to disarm the mine without killing him in the process. No Man's Land was the debut feature from Bosnian writer and director Danis Tanovic. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Vinko Bresan directed this Croatian comedy-drama, scripted by his father Ivo Bresan, about events at a Yugoslav army outpost on an Adriatic island at the time Croatia declares independence. To expedite the exit of the Serb-led army, locals set up a stage to harass the camp's commander Aleksa (Ljubomir Kerekes), who won't budge without a Belgrade directive. Instead, he threatens to blow up everyone by setting off the ammo dump. When art history prof Blaz Gajski (Vlatko Dulic) fails to retrieve his son from the camp, a local deserter loans him a uniform, enabling him to pose as a general. Shown at the 1998 Seattle Film Festival. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide