The Weight of Chains

Dec 17, 2010

2h 5m

★ 7.2

Overview

The Weight of Chains is a Canadian documentary film that takes a critical look at the role that the US, NATO and the EU played in the tragic breakup of a once peaceful and prosperous European state - Yugoslavia. The film, bursting with rare stock footage never before seen by Western audiences, is a creative first-hand look at why the West intervened in the Yugoslav conflict, with an impressive roster of interviews with academics, diplomats, media personalities and ordinary citizens of the former Yugoslav republics. This film also presents positive stories from the Yugoslav wars - people helping each other regardless of their ethnic background, stories of bravery and self-sacrifice.

Genres

Documentary

History

Production Companies

Malagurski Cinema

The Weight of Chains Trailers

Cast

himself

Rade Aleksic

himself

James Bissett

himself

Michel Chossudovsky

Self

Michael Parenti

Drazen Petrovic and Vlade Divac were two friends who grew up together sharing the common bond of basketball. Together, they lifted the Yugoslavian National team to unimaginable heights. After conquering Europe, they both went to USA where they became the first two foreign players to attain NBA stardom. But with the fall of the Soviet Union on Christmas Day 1991, Yugoslavia split up. A war broke out between Petrovic's Croatia and Divac's Serbia. Long buried ethnic tensions surfaced. And these two men, once brothers, were now on opposite sides of a deadly civil war. As Petrovic and Divac continued to face each other on the basketball courts of the NBA, no words passed between the two. Then, on the fateful night of June 7, 1993, Drazen Petrovic was killed in an auto accident. This film will tell the gripping tale of these men, how circumstances beyond their control tore them apart, and whether Divac has ever come to terms with the death of a friend before they had a chance to reconcile.

No Image Available

0.0

I Sing All Day, I Sing All Night

May 16, 1979

Zdravko Čolić is the biggest pop star in Yugoslavia. We follow him during his "Traveling Earthquake Tour", lerning who is the man behind the microphone, dancers, glittery suits... and in front of the audience.

0.0

Freedom from Despair

Oct 5, 2004

True stories of the Croatian People's struggle to overcome oppression from communist Yugoslavia and the 1990's fight to save their war ravaged homeland.

0.0

260 Days

Invalid Date

The carefree and somewhat idyllic life of a ten year old boy named Marijan is violently interrupted when war ravages his small town of Dalj and his families closest friends and neighbors turn on them purely because they are Croatian. Marijan is forced to witness and experience things an adult would have an incredibly difficult time dealing with. He is nevertheless faced with the inexplicably horrid events war brings out in people. The story centers on a present day Marijan- now the very successful owner of a wood manufacturing business. On one random day a man walks into his store and all of the memories he wishes he could long forget come flooding back, forcing him to relive them. Despite his immense hardships, Marijan lives on in forgiveness, always seeking the positives that lay in the future rather than rehashing and remaining in the past.

0.0

Fragments of Humanity

Jan 31, 2022

In the Kosovo War, human dignity was shattered by the terrors of the Serbian government and the Albanian liberation army. Truths about the victims’ fates faded away, which is why a Finnish forensic research group led by Helena Ranta got a mission to act as an unbiased agent and investigate the real course of events.

7.2

Variola Vera

Jul 9, 1982

An Albanian pilgrim, infected with an unknown disease, is on his way back to Belgrade from the Middle East. When doctors realize that it is a disease that has been considered eradicated, it is already too late - variola vera begins to languish and the hospital is quarantined.

0.0

The Truth About Pula

Jul 1, 1947

Yugoslav Partisan propaganda film about the post-World War II events in Pula.

6.0

The Fog of Srebrenica

Sep 30, 2016

This is the story of survivors of the Srebrenica genocide, the only holocaust in Europe since WWII. 8,372 Bosnian men and boys were killed in one week.Heartbreaking and mind blowing testimonials - the story told by survivors, contrasted by hauntingly beautiful landscapes and horrifying archive. The film portrays extraordinary characters, people who have been struggling to come to terms with the past as well as dealing with the harsh realities of living in one of the poorest countries in Europe. Their stories raise serious and profound questions about the nature of human existence, war and forgiveness.

0.0

El Shatt – A Blueprint for Utopia

Jun 22, 2023

Hundreds of frozen and starved people floating on boats in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea fleeing from the war... Familiar scenes that we are used to seeing in recent times. But the year is 1944, and the refugees are travelling from Europe to Africa. After Italian capitulation,and before the arrival of German army, 28 000 Dalmatian Croats left their home villages and towns to live for two years under the tents in the middle of Egyptian desert, in a kind of a communist model village that was formed to show the Allies how the new Yugoslavia will look like when the war ends. This is a story about them.

7.1

Cinema Komunisto

Jan 29, 2010

This eye-opening and bittersweet chronicle of the Yugoslavian film industry recounts how the cinema was used—often with direct intervention from President Josip Broz Tito—to create and recreate the young nation’s history, replete with heroes and myths that didn’t always hew closely to reality.

0.0

Save the Last Bullet

Invalid Date

Based on events from the Balkan Wars. 1991: Amidst the cruel battle of Vukovar, a brave squad of Croatian soldiers fights its way through the besieged country to deliver a truck full of weapons to the Serbian border.

5.7

A Day Longer Than a Year

Mar 28, 1971

The film tells of devastating earthquake in Banja Luka in 1969 and follows a group of prisoners in prison during devastating earthquake and people and residents of Banja Luka. Fate of prisoners,the fate of the city and residents of Banja Luka, are light motive of this movie.

5.0

Ciné-Guerrillas: Scenes from the Labudović Reels

Sep 10, 2022

An archival road trip with Stevan Labudović, cameraman to Yugoslav President Tito and cinematic eye of the Algerian revolution, investigating the role of cinema in the liberation struggles of the Third World and reconstructing the birth of the Non-Aligned Movement.

7.4

The Collaborator

Jan 1, 2007

During the conflict in the former Yugoslavia many soldiers were convinced to kill fellow citizens including friends and relatives in the name of patriotism. The Kolaborator follows the story of Goran, 24, a promising young soccer player who is forced to become a soldier. Goran goes from being a talented athlete to an executioner virtually overnight. Following orders, Goran lines up civilians, shoots them and drags them into mass graves. Justifying his role as a protector of his people, Goran becomes increasingly detached from the task until his soccer coach and life-long friend, Asim, is led in front of him. As a familiar face stands defeated before him, Goran must reconsider his actions and choose between his own life and that of his dear friend.

No Image Available

7.0

From 3 to 22

Nov 23, 1966

A movie follows a regular working day of a woman who works in a factory. She wakes up at 3am and goes to sleep at 10pm.

The Weight of Chains

Overview

Genres

Production Companies

The Weight of Chains Trailers