The brutality that followed Yugoslavia's breakup in the early 90s shocked Europe. Such violent warfare hadn’t been seen on the continent since the Second World War. As several new nations rose from the ashes, accusations and documentation of war crimes came from each fledgling government. A freshly hired Croatian war crimes investigator began some of his most challenging and most important investigations for the UN soon thereafter.
Vladimir Dzuro would face his trial by fire searching for mayor Slavko Dokmanovic of Vukovar who participated in the Ovcara massacre and warlord Zeljko Raznatovic Arkan who, while a popular Serbian politician, was guilty of ethnic cleansing. Dzuro’s exploits are accompanied by artful reminders of the war’s lasting toll on the communities where these atrocities occurred. Many other survivors and locals are brought to the places the war crimes happened and give their voices and stories to the film.
Inspired by Dzuro's bestselling book The Investigator - Demons of the Balkan War, The Investigator is a somber yet thrilling look into the UN investigations into war crimes during the Balkan War. During the mid and late 90s, Dzuro did everything he could to assure that these two men would face justice for their crimes against humanity. Through a series of stories, we learn about the struggles investigators faced, legal issues about extradition, and judicial bias in the UN’s justice system.
While occasionally gruesome, The Investigator is a fascinating dive into one of the most complicated conflicts in European history. Through it all, we see Dzuro’s drive for justice and artfully haunting depictions of war crimes from all sides. We see the inability of the law to bring justice when nationalist sympathy controls a judge’s perception. Everyone thought that the international court system would solve the issues of the Balkan War quickly as they did with Germany after World War II. In Durzo’s own words, “Yugoslavia was not Germany.” Those interested in international justice and UN investigations will want to see this outstanding documentary. Highly Recommended.
Where does this documentary belong on public library shelves?
The Investigator is an obvious fit for human rights and war documentary shelves, but also consider placing it near true crime titles.
What kind of college instructors would be interested in this film?
Professors of international relations, law, and historians studying the Balkan War will find the most interest in The Investigator.
More than 25 years have passed since the war crimes that occurred in former Yugoslavia, yet the impact of this tragic history still lingers. It continues to affect the victims' families, conflicting nations and the investigator who returns to the region to resume his work after many years. Vladimír Dzuro is the first Czech investigator to have worked for the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia. During his tenure, he collected evidence against war criminals and perpetrators of ethnic cleansing. “The Investigator" highlights the dual nature of the International Criminal Court's ethical mission: independently investigating war crimes while striving for reconciliation in cases of ethnic, national, and other conflicts. The documentary is inspired by Vladimir Dzuro's bestselling book, "The Investigator – Demons of the Balkan War."
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FILM FESTIVALS & AWARDS
- Ji.hlava International Documentary Film Festival, Czech Republic
- International Documentary Festival FIPADOC, France
- Official Selection CineCulture Fresno State College, US
THE FILMMAKER
Viktor Portel is a director and head of film production at the non-profit organization Post Bellum. The Investigator is his feature debut. He participated as a creator and story editor in the exhibition Memory of the Nation in the underground of the former Stalin monument in Prague (2018) and the projection Memory of the Nation entitled "1989" for the 30th anniversary of the Velvet Revolution. He is also a curator of interactive exhibitions at the Memory of Nations Institute. As a trainer, he helps to develop documentation projects in places where remembering is not as easy as it is in Czech Republic (Burma, Cuba, Ukraine). He is the author and director of many episodes of the Czech TV series Stories of the 20th Century. His film Havel Heart (2013) won the first prize of the Czech Press Photo in the Online news and reportage category. Viktor graduated from the Department of Documentary Production at FAMU.
CRIMINAL INVESTIGATOR AND AUTHOR
Vladimir Dzuro, Police Commissioner ret. used to work (between 1983 and 1995), as a criminal investigator for the Police of the Czech Republic. Initially he worked at the Homicide Squad in Prague and later at the Interpol (National Central Bureau) in Prague. In 1994, Vladimir actively participated in the work of the United Nations peacekeeping forces in the former Yugoslavia (UNPROFOR). Since April 1995 (for almost 10 years), Vladimir held the position of an investigator at the Office of the Prosecutor in the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in The Hague, Holland. Vladimir, until March 2023, worked as the Chief of the Headquarters Investigation Unit at the United Nations Office of Internal Oversight Services in New York. Currently, Vladimir lectures NATO Military Police investigators on various aspects of war crime investigations.
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THE INVESTIGATOR
Catalog # EPF16048 ● ISBN: 978-1-933724-88-1 ● UPC: 6-82086-16048-1 ● NTSC
73 Minutes ● Copyright 2022 ● Serbian, Bosnian, Croatian, English, Czech, English Subtitles
Click here to buy DVD: $29.95
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