Goran PASKALJEVIC (Belgrade, 1947) studied at the film academy in Prague (the FAMU) where he belonged to what was known as the Prague School (along with Markovic, Karanovic and Kusturica). He has since directed over forty documentaries, features and shorts. His Bure baruta was shown in Rotterdam in 1999.

Pan Hrstka (1969, short), Nekolik slov o lásce (1970, short), Legenda o Lapotu (1971, short), Dosljaci (1971-74, TV-series), Deca (1973, short), Sluga (1973, tv, short), Teret (1974, short), Kapetan Janko (1974, short), Iz pobede u pobedu (1975, short), Cuvar plaze u zimskom periodu/Beach Guard in Winter (1976), Pas koji je voleo vozove/The Dog Who Loved Trains (1978), Sipad (1979), Zemaljski dani teku/And the Days are Passing (1979), Poseban tretman/Special Treatment (1980), Twilight Time/Suton (1982), Varljivo leto '68/The Elusive Summer of '68 (1984), Andeo cuvar/Guardian Angel (1987), Vreme cuda/Time of Miracles (1990), Tango Argentino (1992), Tuda Amerika/Someone Else's America (1995), Bure baruta/The Powder Keg (1998), How Harry became a Tree (2001), San zimske noci/Midwinter Night's Dream (2004)

"The Powder Keg"
Director Goran Paskaljevic

Set on the eve of the 1995 Dayton Peace Accord, "The Powder Keg" presents a cast of finely drawn characters moving through the darkened streets in Belgrade in a series of strange and intertwining events. The film ricochets from black comedy to heightened realism, reminiscent in style to Quentin Tarantino's "Pulp Fiction." Acclaimed Serbian director Goran Paskaljevic puts in sharp focus the brutal realities of everyday life for people trapped in a world devoid or moral anchors. A young couple in the midst of a quarrel rediscover their love for each other when they are taken hostage by local mobsters. In a nearby gymnasium, a middle-aged boxer discovers the extent to which the past 10 years of his life have been a facade, in which both his best friend and wife betrayed him. When a journalist asked why "The Powder Keg" was filmed entirely at night, Paskaljevic replied without hesitation, "Because night has fallen on my country." The film won the FIPRESCI International Critic's prize at the 1998 Venice Film Festival.