LFF LAUREATE
- Best Cinematographer
ABOUT THE MOVIE
Every year, over 35,000 students from various elementary schools across Croatia visit the city of Vukovar as part of the Memorial Center of the Homeland War program. The film follows an eighth-grade class on this trip, documenting their entire journey, from departure to their return home. At the start, the dynamics among the students unfold—who is friends with whom, who has conflicts, and who harbors crushes or openly expresses love. However, when confronted with the wartime events of the 1990s in Vukovar, will their curiosity and the respect that this trip is meant to instill take precedence, or will their focus remain on adolescent relationships typical of their age? On a secondary level, the film explores how education shapes collective memory and questions whether memorial centers are an effective way to honor victims. Most importantly, it raises the question: does their original meaning change if they have essentially become tourist attractions?
Jozo Schmuch
Jozo Schmuch (born in Dubrovnik, 1993) is a director of documentary and short fiction films. His documentary works include A New Mustang Is Born Every Day (2018) and Hotel Mama (2021), the latter of which was screened in the regional competition at ZagrebDox. He has also directed the short fiction films Women of My Age (2019) and Severina's Dog (2024), which was featured in the Kockica program of the Zagreb Film Festival.
Festivals where the film was screened:
- 2025 Zagreb Dox (Zagreb, HR) Regional competition