ZAFRANOVIĆ VISITED DONJA GRADINA SITES AHEAD OF FILMING THE GOLDEN CUT 42

KOZARSKA DUBICA, OCTOBER 2 /SRNA/ - Director Lordan Zafranović visited the Donja Gradina Memorial Site with his associates while preparing to film "The Golden Cut 42 - Children of Kozara," said Tanja Tuleković, director of the public institution in Kozarska Dubica.

Tuleković said Zafranović and his team visited the burial fields, the remains of the Ustasha soap factory and the Poplar of Horror.

"These are authentic locations from the largest execution site of the Jasenovac camp complex and bear witness to the brutality of Ustasha ideology," Tuleković told SRNA.

She said Donja Gradina was a natural starting point for films dealing with this subject.

"Donja Gradina, through both its geography and historical record, bears witness to the genocide committed by the Ustasha regime in the NDH," Tuleković stressed.

"The Golden Cut 42 - Children of Kozara" bears the strong creative signature of Zafranović, a filmmaker who became interested in the suffering of Serbs in the NDH decades ago.

The film tells the story of the suffering of Serbs from Kozara during World War II, focusing on children who were separated from their parents during the 1942 offensive and deported to camps and other locations in the NDH.

The film will be screened in Banja Luka tomorrow, while its production was supported by the institutions of Republika Srpska and Serbia. Its Belgrade premiere is scheduled for this evening.

Lordan Zafranović was born in 1944 in Maslinica on the island of Šolta. He has directed more than 80 documentary and feature films, including "Blood and Ashes of Jasenovac", "Occupation in 26 Pictures", "The Fall of Italy" and the recently completed "The Golden Cut 42 - Children of Kozara".