In this form-defying Rotterdam Tiger Award winner, citizens relive the strange post-WWI dictatorship that befell their city

In the aftermath of the First World War, the future of the Adriatic city of Fiume (Rijeka) was uncertain. Although it was claimed by both Italy and Yugoslavia, the politicians negotiating in Versailles assigned it to neither of them.

In September 1919, the flamboyant Italian poet and military officer Gabriele D’Annunzio entered the city and ruled it for the next 16 months while waiting for the Italian politicians to annex it to Italy. Realising nothing is going to happen, he decided to proclaim it a Regency of his own. D’Annunzio was supported by thousands of young Italian soldiers, who took the occupation as a heroic artistic and patriotic adventure. For the politicians on all sides however, it was a disgrace, which they didn’t know how to solve without starting a bloodshed.

One of the most photographed pre-war events gets re-enacted and reshot on the streets of Rijeka, solely by its citizens. The story is told from the perspective of the participants of the film, in the local languages from the past and the present.

“Fiume o morte!” is Croatia’s submission for the Best International Feature Film at the Academy Awards.