Director Lordan Zafranović, known for classics in Yugoslav cinema like “Occupation in 26 Pictures” and “The Fall of Italy,” considers his film about the suffering of children in the Jasenovac camp, whose premiere is expected next summer, a life project.
Working extensively in post-production on his new Serbian film “Golden Cut 42: Children of Kozara,” focusing on the sufferings in the Ustaše Jasenovac camp, Zafranović filmed it last summer.
“Golden Cut 42: Children of Kozara,” based on Arsen Diklić’s 1986 script, is inspired by the true story of three Serbian children – siblings Zora and her two brothers – who fled from the fascists along the Dubica road during the summer of 1942. Their mother ended up in Ravensbrück, while the children were taken to assembly center number 3, the Jasenovac camp…
Zafranović, the director of Yugoslav film classics “Occupation in 26 Pictures” and “The Fall of Italy,” emphasizes that “Children of Kozara” is a life project he has been waiting for decades.
“This is a sacred film, something I knew from the beginning. I always told the crew that, pumped them positively with good energy during meetings, telling them to pull everything from themselves. To give it special energy, to help make it real! At first, they were a bit confused, but after about ten days of shooting, they understood, and we worked at full speed. It was challenging because I have a specific style of framing, acting, with some delays, some mystery,” he said in an interview for Nova.rs, a Croatian director who has been living in Prague for years.
The first screening of this film, involving more than 150 professionals from Serbia, Croatia, and the region, including Milan Marić, Anica Dobro, Mina Sovtić, and Predrag “Miki” Manojlović, is expected before or during the summer at one of the prestigious festivals.
