THE MAN WHO COULD NOT REMAIN SILENT

Synopsis

February 27, 1993, Strpci, Bosnia and Herzegovina. A passenger train from Belgrade to Bar is stopped by paramilitary forces in an ethnic cleansing operation. As they haul off innocent civilians, only one man out of 500 passengers dares to stand up to them. This is the true story of a man who could not remain silent.

Statement of the director(s)

The film is based on a horrific crime committed in Bosnia 30 years ago. There are three sides to every crime: the perpetrators, the victims, and the witnesses. I was particularly interested in the third group, the witnesses. We approached the film as if it were happening today, and as if it was happening to us, here. It’s easy to imagine that the people on the train are someone else, but they could easily be us, and in a way – they are. Acts of violence take place around us daily. Locally, it’s not as extreme as during the war in former Yugoslavia, but globally – it is even more extreme. And each of us is faced with the question posed by the film’s protagonist: should we stand up to violence even if we are not its immediate targets?