CROATIAN FILM INSTITUTE

THE BELL TOLLS FOR 66 FRANCISCANS

It has been more than 80 years since the murder of 66 Herzegovinian Franciscans.This film reveals the detailed events surrounding these crimes committed by the Yugoslav communist regime between 1942 and 1945.To this day, no one has been held accountable for the murders of the Herzegovinian friars.

Despite the enforced silence and persecution of truth tellers by the Yugoslavian communist regime for almost half a century, the spirit of the Croatian people and their faith has kept the truth alive.The determination of the faithful in the Franciscan community has resulted in the discovery of the bodies of more than half of the friars and providing dignified burial of their remains.The legacy of silence enforced by the perpetrators of these events and their followers has been challenged through the successful efforts of many to create a Cemetery of Peace in Bila, an extraordinary memorial site in the breathtaking foothills of the Dinaric Alps.Individual crosses with engraved names will honor the more than 52,000 Croatian victims of totalitarian crimes in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Although the provincial martyrdom procedure for the massacre of the Herzegovinian friars was completed in 2010, the diocesan process for beatification has not yet begun.

Participants: Fr. Jozo Grbeš, Provincial of the Herzegovinian Franciscan Province / Fr. Miljenko Stojić, Vice-Postulator of the Martyrdom Process of the Herzegovinian Franciscans / Prof. Dr. Fra Andrija Nikić, President of the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts / Anita Martinac, Writer and Advisor to the Minister for Veterans' Affairs of the HNC / Dragan Čović, President of the HDZ BiH / Member of the Presidency of BiH / Mile Pušić, Head of the Subdivision for World War II and the Post-War Period in the Croatian National Assembly.