No Man’s Land

Danis Tanović’s Academy Award winning No Man’s Land is arguably the most famous film about the civil war in the former Yugoslavia. Conveying the futility of war using a combination of satire and drama, Tanović’s audacious debut reduces the conflict to its essence as two enemy soldiers are forced to share a deserted trench. Creating a microcosm of the conflict, Tanović distillates the absurdity of war with this pair of soldiers soon discovering they’re pawns in the bureaucratic process as the UN and the media arrive. By presenting various perspectives on the conflict, the film avoids the potential for a one-sided account and whilst No Man's Land is a comedy at heart, its humour is so acerbic that its cuts to the core of human weaknesses.