AI brings Croatian homeland war hero to life in new documentary
The documentary “Sokol – Unstoppable as Destiny”, the first Croatian film to use artificial intelligence to recreate the likeness of a real-life hero from the Homeland War, Velimir Đerek, known by his wartime nickname Sokol (Falcon), will premiere in Zagreb on 11 November.
Produced by Miss Art and directed by Eduard and Dominik Galić, the film is described as a pioneering work that blends historical fact with powerful emotion, using AI to reawaken the faces and atmosphere of a bygone era, CE Report quotes HINA.
The film will go into regular cinema distribution on 13 November.
When producers began reconstructing the early life of Sokol, commander of the Sajmište defence during the 1991 siege of Vukovar, they faced what they called an almost impossible task – "bringing back to life" a young man of whom only a few photographs exist.
Tomislav Josipović, director of Chroma Studio, which created the AI-generated content and handled post-production, said multiple AI models were combined to produce realistic and previously unseen images of Sokol and his surroundings, recreating Vukovar of the early 1990s “as we remember it, but never thought we would see again.”
Historical figures and locations were reconstructed through AI-driven live-action sequences, creating a film experience that blurs the line between reality and digital creation, from authentic uniforms and military vehicles to mud splatters, facial expressions and the emotions that defined Sokol’s final days, Josipović said.
Director Dominik Galić described the process as painstaking, with each shot going through dozens of iterations and visual adjustments.
"The goal was not to create a perfect digital world, but to breathe life once again into a man and a moment that built our freedom, the moments we still live in today," said co-director Eduard Galić.
The filmmakers said the project represents a world-first in its scope, noting that while most productions use AI only for visual sketches or minor effects, "Sokol – Unstoppable as Destiny" creates fully realised dramatic scenes in a true historical setting, opening what they called a new chapter in Croatian and global cinema.
foto Hari Alfeo
