Factuality and Fictionality in Current Croatian Feature Film

• In Event: Rethinking Yugoslav Culture III: Formal Concerns and Documentary Claims in (Post-)Yugoslav Film

Abstract

This paper discusses two recent Croatian films, Safe Place (Sigurno mjesto, 2022) by Juraj Lerotić and Only When I Laugh (Samo kad se smijem, 2023) by Vanja Juranić, which both stem from real-life events but employ different cinematic strategies to criticize indifference of the public institutions and a collapse of general societal values in face of abuse. Both films, revealing irony already in their titles, take place on the Adriatic coast and problematize the aesthetics of liminal spaces which harbor violence and stasis.

Author

• Aida Vidan, Tufts U