DEEPLY MOVING TRAILER AND POSTERS FOR SERBIAN WAR EPIC 'SOLDIER'S LULLABY' MARKING THE WW1 ARMISTICE CENTENNIAL

   'SOLDIER'S LULLABY'

HAUNTING WORLD WAR I EPIC

The movie premiered this week in Serbia

Beside monumental King Peter I, there is another Serbian epic in the Autumn that marks a century of the Armistice: Great War drama SOLDIER'S LULLABY (Zaspanka za vojnike) which had its premiere yesterday celebrating the hundred years since the end of the First World War in which Serbia was the biggest victim of all other countries losing literally half of its citizens. It is based on Serbian Trilogy novels by Stevan Jakovljevic and it will be turned into a four part mini series as well after it ends its cinematic run. The movie was directed by

Marko Vasiljevic plays the lead role

Predrag Antonijevic (Ghost of New Orleans, Savior, Hard Cash).

IN SOLDIER'S LULLABY 
Stevan Jakovljevic (ground breaking role from young Marko Vasiljevic), a biology teacher and World War I veteran who fought for the Serbian army, arrives to the celebration of the twentieth anniversary of the end of the war and the opening of an ossuary in the village where he used to be stationed with his first company, the Fifth Artillery Battery. Back then, Stevan had to take sudden leave of absence and was then reassigned to another unit, and one of

Vuk Jovanovic plays the role of Aleksandar

the reasons he came to the opening of the ossuary is to find out what had happened to his fellow soldiers, especially to his immediate superior, Second Lieutenant Aleksandar (Vuk Jovanovic). There he encounters only the aged Commander (Ljubomir Bandovic), and through their flashbacks we see the fate of the Fifth Battery which was disbanded in that very village, we see some difficult but also some joyous moments, as well as the relationship between Stevan and Aleksandar which evolves from initial hostility to friendship. What Stevan learns from the Commander will change everything - Aleksandar knowingly sacrificed himself...

GENTIAN FOR FALLEN SOLDIERS

Gentian (or zaspanka in Serbian) from the Serbian movie title is the name for a robust little wild flower which animals do not eat but according to legends it

Ljubomir Bandovic takes the role of the Commander

grows on the graves of soldiers. It also grows on Kaymakchalan which was the place of the massive WW1 battle in September 1916 in which Serbia, fighting against Bulgarians on the side of Allied Forces, lost shocking 10,000 soldiers but won in the end. The skulls of the dead Serbian heroes are still kept in a church on the top of the Kaymakchalan mountain. Check out the trailer below with the heartbreaking and deeply haunting song The Longest Night composed especially for the film and sung by Serbian r'n'b star Aleksandra Kovac. Click on the link which opens up when you play the trailer to see it on YouTube!