Jack, the Balkans & I

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In 1972, Congolese – Belgian popstar Jack Roskam moves to Yugoslavia, where he meets and marries his Croatian wife. He becomes the guitarist of one of the most popular local rock bands, Galija. Tall, black and adorned with dreadlocks, Jack stands out on stage amongst his mostly Serbian colleagues.

Being a convinced pacifist, Jack had escaped service in the Belgian army, but at the time of the outbreak of the Yugoslavian war his convictions are tested. As Galija’s songs become more Serb orientated, Jack decides to leave the band. While Yugoslavian people are forced to choose sides, Jack faces the dilemma to either return to Belgium or to stay but what will be the fate of his new country and family and friends. The war will force him to exchange his Fender Stratocaster for a Kalashnikov and to fight in the Croatian army.

In this road movie, Jack and the Bosnian filmmaker travel through former Yugoslavia, reflecting on the choices they both made in the war.


Crew

Director & screenwriter: Sergej Kreso

Producer: Volya Films

Co-producer: Serendipity Films | IKON

Director of photography: Wiro Felix

Editor: Srdjan Fink

Sound engineer: Slobodan Bajic

Sound designer: Hans Tourné

Composer: Jack Roskam

Length

60 minutes

Year

2008

Genre

Documentary

Partners

Dutch Cultural Broadcasting Foundation | CoBO | Flanders Audiovisual Fund | Flanders Image | Thuiskopie Fund | Eurodoc

Festivals

IDFA 2008 | Bergamo Film Meeting 2009 | LOW Art Festival Budapest 2009 | MIPDOC 2009 | BelDocs Belgrado 2009 | DOKMA 2009 | Gdansk DocFilm 2009 | Netherlands Film Festival 2009