BELGRADE: Young Serbian scriptwriter David Jakovljević and director Siniša Cvetić are currently in postproduction with their third common feature film, Is It a Roar of Thunder, or the Shaking of the Ground? / Jali grmi ja l’ se zemlja trese?, a coproduction between Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina.
This film is a fictional story about hajduks (rebels-bandits), set at the end of the 16th century, in the small village of Brut, under the rule of the Ottoman Empire. The echoes of the Banat rebellion encourage the resistance of the Serbian people after centuries of tyranny, which is intensified after the failed campaign of Sultan Suleiman against Vienna. Thugs and village cooperatives organise a rebellion against the oppressors, and the backbone is the fate of the brother and sister.
„The third feature production of the author tandem Cvetić-Jakovljević is coming to the audience in cooperation with the production company Košutnjak film. It is also the first film in the history of Serbian cinematography that deals with bandits in the Middle Ages. The action takes place during the Banat Uprising, the first rebellion of the brotherly peoples of the Balkans against the mighty Ottoman Empire. Despite the fact that it takes us back in time, this story of the fight for freedom and the resistance of the ‘little’ to the ‘big’ is more important today than ever. Coming soon to cinemas!,“ said scriptwriter David Jakovljević exclusively for FNE.
The main cast consists of Maja Jurić, Marko Grabež, Isidora Janković, Filip Hajduković, Bojan Žirović, and Pavle Mensur.
Zoran Janković is a producing through Košutnjak Film with support from Film Center Serbia, The Audio-visual Centre of the Republic of Srpska, and Banja Luka’s Kozara Film.
The budget is 800,000 EUR.
Katarina Ralević is the creative producer of the film, and Slobodan Terzić is its art director.
The film was shot on locations in and around Belgrade, Sopot, and Knjsževac in March – May 2026. The postproduction is due to be completed by the end of November 2026.
Jakovljević and Cvetić’s previous feature film, Lilac / Ljiljani (2024), was the third most watched film in Serbian cinemas, amassing a total of 220,000 admissions in Serbia and the region combined. Their first common project, The Beheading of St John the Baptist / Usekovanje (2022), was also produced by Košutnjak Film.
Production Information:
Producer:
Košutnjak Film (Serbia)
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Credits:
Director: Siniša Cvetić
Scriptwriter: David Jakovljević
DoP: Marko Milovanović
Editor: Olga Košarić
Production designer: Bojan Jovanović
Costume designer: Boris Čakširan
Music composer: Stribor Kusturica
Mask designer: Dušica Viksanović
Cast: Maja Jurić, Marko Grabež, Isidora Janković, Filip Hajduković, Bojan Žirović, Pavle Mensur, Čubrilo Čupić, Branko Perišić, Milena Vasić, Bane Vidaković, Vahid Džanković, Luka Sević, Nikola Milakovič, Predrag Smiljković, Andrej Benčina, Duško Mazalica, Dejan Dedić, Isidora Građanin
