Movies

Director Ivan Ramljak: “The idea behind the film was to immerse the viewer in the atmosphere of Osijek in the first half of 1991 and to try to answer the questions of how it was possible for a chief of police to be killed in broad daylight, in a populated area, in front of a dozen witnesses, as well as whether that tragic war could, in fact, have been prevented. I hope that at least some of our findings will help in understanding the events we address in The Peacemaker.”

In 1991, at the entrance to Tenja, Josip Reihl Kir – the chief of the Osijek police, a man devoted to negotiation and the prevention of war – was killed. The Peacemaker tells the story of the last few months of his life on the eve of the bloody Croatian-Serbian war, which Kir tried with all his strength to prevent. The film is narrated through the testimonies of several witnesses and archival materials from that time. Even today, more than thirty years later, many elements of the murder remain unresolved, and the possible masterminds – unknown.