Louder Than Guns
In collaboration with the Festival of Alternatives and the Left Fališ, the opening of the festival at Barone Fortress will feature a screening of Miroslav Sikavica’s documentary about the role of patriotic music in the political shifts of the 1990s and the Croatian War of Independence.
A special screening with free admission, followed by a conversation with the director.
In the late 1980s and early 1990s, patriotic music played a significant political role across the former Yugoslavia. Tanks, bombs, and automatic rifles were weapons in the war - but the loudest voices were often those of the songs. For some, they captured the chaos they were living through; for others, they were a statement of political allegiance. The national broadcaster actively commissioned, funded, and aired this music. Thirty years after the war’s end, its soundtrack still provokes attention and stirs emotions. As the director notes, “Popular music generally reacts the fastest to social and political changes. This was especially evident in the 1990s, when everyone - including music - was expected to take a clear political stance. The mass production of patriotic songs during the war shows how the young Croatian state relied heavily on music, not just as an effective tool of national unification, but also as a powerful form of political struggle, state-building legitimacy, and a call for international support.”
This documentary - an exploration of the intersection of music, politics, and war - was six years in the making. The production team reviewed hundreds of hours of private and public archival footage, ultimately incorporating 60 songs into the final version. During the research process, the filmmakers spoke with numerous authors and performers of patriotic songs, eyewitnesses and participants of the time, television editors and journalists, producers, music critics, historians, and musicologists.
The film features appearances by Zrinko Tutić, Josipa Lisac, Vera Svoboda, Josip Ivanković, Mladen Kvesić, Davor Gobac, Boytronic, Sandra Kulier, Mario Pešo, Borut Šeparović, Miroslav Lilić, Ante Perković, and many others.
