Mirotvorac

In 1991, ethnic tensions between the Serbian minority and the Croatian majority in the region of Slavonia came to a head. Josip Reihl-Kir, chief of police of the city of Osijek, tirelessly mediated between the parties, who were already armed to the teeth. On 1 July 1991, he was assassinated on his way to a peace negotiation in broad daylight on the street, in front of dozens of eyewitnesses. Croatian documentarist Ivan Ramljak analyses the circumstances that fostered an atmosphere of fear and the normalization of open terror. His film makes no attempt to shed light on the unresolved details of the possible instigators. Instead, he has produced a long-overdue monument to Josip Reihl-Kir as one of the last advocates for peace. (Borjana Gaković, DOK Leipzig)