The Cormorant Scarecrow

Shocking, intimate and moving documentary "Sve je bio dobar san" ("It Was All Just a Good Dream: the Frenchman from Vukovar") examines the events from the time of the war in Croatia and the arrival of the young French volunteer Jean-Michel Nicolier in Croatia.

After Liptus arrives in a small village from the city, he calls his best friends, Miron and Melita, on winter holidays in Kopacevo. That same night, while they are all sleeping cozily, from their deep sleep Miron and Melita are woken by the disturbing sounds of villagers, carrying flares and disappearing into the darkness at the end of the street. At the docks, they find Halasz, a boy known for his bravery. He is cold, pale from shock, and babbling a white ghost. While most of the villagers don't believe Halasz's story, older citizens recall a long time ago when a forgotten spirit would scare people at night in dark and foggy swamps. Everyone locks themselves in their houses and Halasz ends up in a hospital where the doctors can't help him. Miron, Liptus, and Melita, now alone, take matters into their own hands, revealing the secret of the ghost and saving their friend.

Nine short films are connected into one whole, and they describe life in Croatia's capital of Zagreb.

The main protagonist, Dara, lives with her husband, Rade Mitrović, in the vicinity of Obrovac, an area of typical Croatian rocky ground. They are the last authentic people of the area. He carves in the old-fashioned way, while she takes her flock of sheep and goats to graze in a pasture at the time when there is possibility of her flock being attacked by hungry wolves. She is very skilled in leading the flock, her dogs, in a special way. By the dog's behavior she knows that wolves are approaching and it enables her to save the flock, which is far from an easy task. This film follows the main protagonist's efforts to track down a lost sheep. She does this with careful investigation of all the relevant tracks of the lost sheep and despite sacrificing the time to do her household chores. This poetical documentary about eternal fight between good and wrong makes human existence uniquely miraculous.

The war has ended. Villages of Bosnian Croats have been destroyed, and they are living in the homes of the Croatian Serbs. An old man, a Bosnian Croat, disappears. A policeman Filip, himself living in a Serbian home, investigates the case uninterestedly. Through the relationship with his father, Filip tries to understand the motives of the missing old man. As the film moves towards the end, Filip’s investigation becomes more and more personal.