Boris Poljak
Directing
Known For

In 1943, group of Croatian soldiers overtake a strategically important point in western Bosnia with a goal to destroy a group of communist partisans. On the way they met some supernatural phenomena, and the action itself went very badly because the partisans ambushed them. The main character Martin inherits silver cigarette case from a dying soldier. This act connects to the story in 1993 when we meet Martins grandson Tomo. He is one of six soldiers of the Croatian army who have come to the same place in Bosnia to meet the same phenomena and similar fate.
The Living and the Dead

Hundreds of frozen and starved people floating on boats in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea fleeing from the war... Familiar scenes that we are used to seeing in recent times. But the year is 1944, and the refugees are travelling from Europe to Africa. After Italian capitulation,and before the arrival of German army, 28 000 Dalmatian Croats left their home villages and towns to live for two years under the tents in the middle of Egyptian desert, in a kind of a communist model village that was formed to show the Allies how the new Yugoslavia will look like when the war ends. This is a story about them.
El Shatt – A Blueprint for Utopia

A 12-year-old boy, Vanja, has been catching and studying plankton for the past two years. He owns a professional plankton net and conducts scientific research under a microscope.
This Is (for) the Sea

The basis of the experimental film Sky Spirits are real-life shots of fireworks. The authors of the film have collected these shots from the year 2001. to 2008. The experiment explores the ultimate limits of fireworks as sources of light, showing this through real-life dynamic light patters which are led through video processors, resulting in chromatically rich animated samples. The material is "laboratory" processed and then formed into a film unit, while respecting the dramaturgy of fireworks. The original sound was used, which was, of course, subsequently processed, too. The whole work process is a kind of "homage to the tape" because the entire work is completely recorded and realised on digital video tapes, without using any kind of computer program.
Sky Spirits

Documentary about the life and career of Serbian rock musician Vladimir "Vlada" Divljan.
Heavenly Theme

Briefly depicted fragments from the characters' lives, through summer and winter, as each of them suffers a loss. Cinematic meditation on inevitable loss.
While We Were Here

Every summer, St. Nicholas Church (12th century) draws large crowds of tourists. Situated in an untouched Arcadian landscape, on a picturesque hill and next to a lone tree, it is as if the site becomes a stage where various unusual events take place. Thus, the tourists, unaware of the proximity of the camera, become performers in a daily show.
Autofocus

The film follows morning events at Bacvice beach. At dawn, before sunrise, the beach becomes a place of an unusual clash. From nearby clubs and cafes, numerous groups of young people cross the beach on their way home. At the same time, older people start coming. They walk, come, pass by and go.
They Just Come and Go

Andrija, a fire department captain, is in a commited relationship with Marija, however, he cannot stop himself from thinking about Petra, one of Marija's best friends. After he's finished with a dangerous job he speaks to both of them, deciding to finally determine the future of their relationship that's burning down much like the trees he's trying to save.
The Pack

Visually engaging segments are combined with the testimonies of four female partisans.
Woods That Sing

In 2016, the ex-Yugoslav Navy flagship Vis was deliberately sunk in order to turn it into a scuba diving attraction in Croatia. The ship lies on the seabed of the waters close to Brijuni Islands where in 1956 Nasser, Nehru and Tito met to discuss their opposition to the Cold War and the formation of the Non-aligned Movement. By employing visually impressive shots, the film establishes a signature spatial and temporal narrative, at the same time entering the space of fusion of personal and collective memory and dismemory, which, in the context of political and economic changes that have been occurring in Croatian society for the past several decades, acquire metaphorical and symbolic meanings, imbued with powerful socio-psychological implications.
Yet Another Departure

Mario Haber was a sound engineer and a dedicated brandy maker. For over a decade, he had been recording colorful conversations and sounds in his house and around the alcohol fermenter. The Spirits Diary is a visual reconstruction of his audio recordings.
The Spirits Diary

Dreaming of better lands, from generation to generation, because of poverty, hunger and wars, we voyage across the seas. Geography is destiny. Do our bodies retain the memories of our grandfathers; are memories of running away in search of better lands imprinted on our bodies?
Porvenir

In this very timely observational meditation on the growing militarization of today’s society, we are watching what is really happening aboard a US aircraft carrier, as well as behind the scenes of a military parade. With his trademark long-take sequences, using a free-associative editing style, acclaimed experimental documentarist Boris Poljak creates an atmosphere of anxiety and loneliness, perfectly in tune with the fear of the uncertain future that we all feel.
Horror Vacui

Cities I Haven’t Been To is an abstract travelogue that traces the skylines of unknown metropolises, taking the viewer on a virtual journey from Dubai to Dhaka and beyond. Unlike tourist postcards, these mental images stem from the filmmaker’s own memories and prejudices, coming to life in dreamlike flashes of abstract figures.
Cities I Haven't Been to

The film is based on an optical experiment with point light sources and appropriate filters. During the experiment, light passes through the obstacle and the obstacle is the human hand. The movements of the hands and fingers in front of the lens create interesting chromatic shapes.