Hajrudin Krvavac

Because of the style of his films, Krvavac was sometimes compared to Howard Hawks.

• Name — Hajrudin Krvavac • Other Names — Šiba • Born — 22 December 1926 • Birthplace — Sarajevo, Kingdom of Yugoslavia • Died — 11 July 1992 • Place of death — Sarajevo, Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina • Occupation — Film director, writer • Notable Works — Valter brani Sarajevo

Hajrudin Krvavac was born in the Mejtaš neighborhood of Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina on 22 December 1926. His parents, both originally from Gacko, were Muslims and ethnic Bosniaks. Krvavac had a brother Sabahudin. As a teenager in Sarajevo, Krvavac assisted the Partisan resistance on the outskirts of the city that like the rest of Bosnia had since April 1941 been occupied by the newly created Nazi German puppet entity Independent State of Croatia — the youngster reportedly made treks out of the city on four separate occasions in order to take part in actions organized by local resistance leader Valter Perić. As the World War II ended and Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia got established, Krvavac moved to Belgrade for college (viša škola) studies, enrolling in a diplomacy and journalism program. Upon returning to Sarajevo, on suggestion from his friend Eli Finci, Krvavac decided to pursue film direction despite possessing no formal training. During early 1950s he got jailed by Yugoslav authorities on Goli otok, a political prison for Soviet-leaning Yugoslav communists following the Tito–Stalin Split and the subsequent Informbiro period.

• Vrtlog (1964) • The Demolition Squad (1967) • The Bridge (1969) • Walter Defends Sarajevo (1972) • Partizanska eskadrila (1979)

Krvavac died in July 1992 during the early months of the Siege of Sarajevo. When the Bosnian War started, he was offered to be taken out of Sarajevo to Serbia by Serbian actors Bata Živojinović and Ljubiša Samardžić, but he refused, and ultimately succumbed to a heart condition during the Siege of Sarajevo.