THE FUSE: OR HOW I BURNED SIMON BOLIVAR (2011)

Kako Sam Zapalio Simona Bolivara (Bosnian, Serbo-Croatian)
2011, 9 min, Alt/Documentary

Screening Formats: HDCAM, Beta SP
Director/Producer/Editor: Igor Drljača
Sound Design / Mix: Steve Cupani

Synopsis: Using personal home video footage, this documentary follows how a young boy’s attempts to avoid a poor mark on a school assignment in 1990’s Sarajevo, may have contributed to a civil war.

Director’s Note: The Fuse is a story of childhood naïveté, and of those moments, in this case rather ominous ones, which inevitably teach a child that he is not the center of the universe. In the Fuse, I wanted to explore the universality of this feeling, albeit within the very specific and traumatic context of the Bosnian civil war. Sensing that everything is about to change, the nine-year-old boy, Igor, appears even slightly excited, being oblivious to the chaos that was about to engulf Sarajevo.

Awards / Nominations

Canada Screen Award Nomination - Best Short Documentary
Canada’s Top Ten
Yorkton Film Festival – Best Historical Documentary
Honorable Mention / Special Jury Citation – Bosnian-Herzegovinian Film Festival

Festival Screenings

Sarajevo Film Festival (work-in-progress)
Toronto International Film Festival (Sep. 2011, Toronto, Canada)
Vancouver International Film Festival (Oct. 2011, Vancouver, Canada)
Canada’s Top Ten (Jan. 2012, Toronto, Canada)
Victoria Film Festival (Feb. 2012, Victoria, Canada)
Zagrebdox (Feb. 2012, Zagreb, Croatia)
South by Southwest (March 2012, Austin, USA)
Cinema du Reel (March 2012, Paris, France)
Boston Independent Film Festival (April 2012, Boston, USA)
Bosnian-Herzegovinian Film Festival (May 2012, New York City, USA)
Rejkjavik Shorts and Docs Film Festival (May 2012, Rejkjavik, Iceland)
Yorkton Film Festival –Golden Sheaf Nomination – (May 2012, Yorkton, Canada)
Los Angeles Film Festival (June 2012, Los Angeles, USA)
Rooftop Films (June 2012, New York City, USA)
Vienna Independent Short Film Festival (June 2012, Vienna, Austria)
Gimli Film Festival (July 2012, Gimli, Canada)
Era New Horizons (July 2012, Wroclaw, Poland)
Docufest Kosovo (July 2012, Prizren, Kosovo)
Melbourne International Film Festival (August 2012, Melbourne, Australia)
Herceg Novi FIlm Fesival (August 2012, Herceg Novi, Montenegro)
Sao Paulo International Short Film Festival (August 2012, Sao Paulo, Brazil)
Belo Horizonte International Film Festival (September 2012, Minas Gerais, Brazil)
Milwaukee International Short Film Festival (October 2012, Milwaukee, USA)
Rio de Janeiro International Short Film Festival (November 2012, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil)
Internationale Kurzfilmtage Winterthur (November 2012, Winterthur, Switzerland)
L’Alternativa Barcelona (November 2012, Bacelona, Spain)
Pravo Ljudski Film Festival (November 2012, Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina)
Go Short Film Festival (March 2013 Nijmegen, Netherlands)

Recontres D’Cerbere (October 2013, Cerbere, France )
Festival international Signes de Nuit (October 2013, Paris, France)