The screening of Men Don’t Cry was followed by a Q&A with the international crew; director Alen Drljević, producer Damir Ibrahimović and co-producer Smiljan Talj, co-producer Bojan Mastilovič, production assistant Alja Lucjan, postproduction supervisor Janez Ferlan, sound engineer Julij Zornik, make-up artist Marija Gorogranc and the cast: Leon Lučev, Boris Isaković, Sebastian Cavazza, Primož Petkovšek Petko and Boris Ler. After a burst of thunderous applause, Drljević explained that the film was based on his personal experiences: he had signed up for a training event that a peace organisation offered to war veterans from former Yugoslavia. He believed he had long since left behind his personal experience of the war, but it was not forgotten, merely suppressed. The workshop was an overwhelming experience and the catharsis experienced in the workshop made him decide to make a feature film on the subject, a topic that he considers “crucial and essential.” The film, thus far amassing a remarkable ten prizes, has been enthusiastically received by both critics and audiences alike.

The film deals with “the shared emotions of society, which is reflected in the collective guilt and moral responsibility.” Sebastian Cavazza, who plays the character of the therapist, researched his role with psychotherapist Vladimir Milošević known for treating war veterans in group therapy known as psychodrama. The overriding theme in Men Don’t Cry is the renascence of the symbiosis among Bosnian ethnic entities, whose diversity was characteristic of Bosnia. The film crew also stressed that “manipulating war veterans equals manipulating pain” – the trauma and sustaining hostility, while the filmmakers aimed to reconcile the opposing sides by transcending religious and nationalistic differences.

Nataša Šušteršič

Photo Iztok Dimc