Croatian winner of the Short Film Palme d’Or at Cannes, The Man Who Couldn't Be Silent is being celebrated in Zagreb for its achievement. A 14-minute-long feature by Zagreb-born director, Nebojša Slijepčević, the film focuses on a little-known story from the Yugoslav war, involving a heroic officer who tried to save the life of a young passenger, about to be pulled off a train and massacred with 20 others.
The officer disappeared too, and was almost written out of history, until Slijepčević found a newspaper article in the archives.
Edging out 4,200 entries for the Cannes award, whittled down to a short list of 11, The Man has just been screened at the Kaptol Boutique Cinema in the Croatian capital. Writer/director Slijepčević was granted the medal of the City of Zagreb by mayor Tomislav Tomašević and his crew received at the City Palace.
The film is another successful venture by independent Croatian production company Antitalent, also responsible for the acclaimed full-length feature Murina.