overview

Silent Gunpowder (Serbo-Croatian: Gluvi barut) is a Yugoslavian war film Based on a novel by Branko Ćopić and set during World War II, the film tells the story of a Serbian village in the mountains of Bosnia and its villagers who found themselves divided along two opposing ideological lines, represented by the Chetniks and the Partisans. These two opposing sides are personified in the Partisan commander Španac and a former Royal Army officer Radekić. Španac sees Radekić as the cause of villagers' resistance to the new, Communist, ideology and so the main plot axis is the conflict between them. At the 1990 Pula Film Festival, the film won the Big Golden Arena for Best Film, as well as the awards for Best Actor in a Leading Role (Branislav Lečić), Best Film Score (Goran Bregović). The film was also shown at the 1991 Moscow International Film Festival, where both Branislav Lečić and Mustafa Nadarević won the Silver St. George Award for their performances.