Two Players from the Bench

Colour, 35 mm
Croatia, Slovenia, 2006, 120 min
Section: East of the West - Films in Competition

Synopsis

Croatian Ante and Serb Duško were once “Dream Team” players. They were always on different sides and volleyball was the only bond between them. Now their sporting days are behind them, and they lead their different lives in different places, and so they are both surprised when they unexpectedly meet again. They have been brought together by Antiša, the intelligence – service sponsor of Colonel Skoko, who is being indicted by the International Tribunal in the Hague. For some a hero and for others a criminal, the colonel is on the run. The key witnesses for his defence, Mato and Joso, have disappeared without trace, but if Ivan Skoko is to escape conviction, someone has to give evidence on his behalf. And so Ante and Duško become key players in a game of life and death, with a great deal of money at stake as well. Significantly, this Balkan-style black comedy, with its obvious political subtext, was made before the sudden death of Slobodan Milošević unleashed a fierce debate on the rationale and results of the work of the Hague Court. The film won four Golden Arena Awards at the National festival in Pula 2005 – for screenplay, camera, set design and supporting actress.

About the director

Dejan Šorak (b. 1954, Karlovac, Yugoslavia) studied direction at the Academy of Dramatic Arts in Zagreb. His first experiences with filmmaking were mainly in television. His film debut as director and screenwriter was the witty retro comedy The Small Train Robbery (Mala pljačka voza, 1984), which went down well the public at the Pula Festival and won the Golden Door Audience Award. He also wrote the screenplays for his next five feature films, of differing genre and theme. Dejan Šorak is well-known as a dramatist and novelist, as well as a filmmaker. The screenplay for his film Oficir s ružom won the Golden Arena Award. While a student he produced and directed his own play The Death of the Priest (Svečenikova smrt), and his The Spider and Cinderella (Pauk i Pepeljuga) was a major success. He is the author of such novels as Test Screening (Kontrolna projekcija) and Me and Kalista (Ja i Kalista), and is an important writer and director for radio.