The suspense-ridden, emotionally charged psychological drama addresses the concerns of unconditional forgiveness and the haunting demons of the past. Seven Golden Arena Awards at the Pula Film Festival.
Vesna, a nurse, lives with her two grown-up children in Zagreb. Vesna’s son is married and his wife is expecting their second child; her daughter is engaged, and all seems well in the world. But their name poses an obstacle to all of them. When Vesna came to Zagreb twenty years ago she intended to put behind her memories of the war in Bosnia in which her husband Žarko played an active role. But one day the phone rings out of the blue and Vesna hears Žarko’s voice on the line. This unleashes in Vesna a mixture of hatred, love, hope and disgust. Should she trust a man who once caused her and others such unbearable suffering?
"On the Other Side is a thriller drama that explores the question whether love, thwarted because of some obstacle that’s separated the partners and prevented any kind of relationship, destined to fade out or, nevertheless, we carry within us ‘the love virus' that gets triggered at some point in time. The reality we live in has enabled me to include all of this into a story that’s relevant and that depicts our present and reflects our past. I aimed to make a film to be seen with the heart. When you try to rationalise it, you’re taking the wrong direction." (Zrinko Ogresta)
Zrinko Ogresta
Born in Virovitica, Croatia in 1958, Ogresta studied at the Academy of Dramatic Art in Zagreb, where he is now professor of directing. He is a director and screenwriter whose films have won awards at festivals around the world, and member of the European Film Academy in Berlin. On the Other Side won as many as seven main awards at the 2016 Pula Film Festival.