Original Title: Muskarci ne plaču
Year: 2017
Length: 98 minutes
Language: Bosnian
Country: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Slovenia, Germany, Croatia
Film Category: Feature Narrative

Cast & Credits

Director: Alen Drljević

Producer: Damir Ibrahimović, Jasmila Zbanić

Production Company: Deblokada, Iridium Film, Produkcija Ziva, Manderlay Films, This and That, Cineplanet

Cast: Boris Isaković, Leon Lučev, Emir Hadžihafizbegović, Sebastian Cavazza, Ermin Bravo, Boris Ler, Ivo Gregurević, Izudin Bajrović, Primož Petkovšek

Music: Dado Jehan - (as Dado Dzihan)

Cinematography: Erol Zubcevic

Film Editing: Vladimir Gojun      

Art Direction: Mirna Ler   

Costume Design: Sanja Dzeba   

Film Synopsis:

Twenty years after the conclusion of the Bosnian War, a group of men meet to discuss their experiences and process the events that shaped their lives decades ago. Comprised of a diverse group ethnic backgrounds, including Bosnian, Croat, and Serbian descent, the men alternate between confronting and avoiding painful memories through a mix of therapy sessions and drunken revelry. Set at a remote mountain hotel, the film features cinematography that straddles the aesthetic line between documentary and narrative film, often leaving the viewer with a sense of unease. Men Don’t Cry embraces moral uncertainty and the effects of time on painful memories as it explores themes of ethnic conflict and the impact, both physical and emotional, that war leaves on its participants. The film also delves into gender issues with its exploration of the role played by masculinity in shaping war and the way veterans deal with their past experiences. Tense and unsettling, Men Don’t Cry casts doubt on the value and possibility of the emotional catharsis sought by its protagonists.

Director's Biography

Alen Drljević makes his feature directorial debut with Men Don’t Cry. A graduate of the Academy of Performing Arts in Sarajevo, Alen’s 2005 short film The Paycheck was nominated for a European Film Award for Best Short. His 2006 documentary Carnival explored the effects of the conflicts of the 1990s on the former Yugoslav states. After working as an assistant director on three films with director Jasmila Žbanić, Alen embarked on his own career as a feature director with the critically-acclaimed Men Don’t Cry.