No Man’s Land is a film directed by Danis Tanovic. It takes place during the Bosnian War between the years 1992-1995 in the former Yugoslavia. The film follows a pair of Bosnian soldiers named Ciki and Cera when they are attacked by Serbian troops after they are lost in a fog. They are both wounded and caught in a trench between lines. Two Serbian soldiers go to make sure the Bosnian soldiers are dead. While they are there, Ciki kills one of them and wounds the other. He keeps the wounded Serbian, Nini, alive in order to make it out of the trench without being shot by the Serbs. He finds out that the Serbian soldiers placed a bouncing mine under Cera who he thought was dead. They work together to draw a cease fire and get the UN involved in getting them out of No Mans Land. While they wait, they talk about life before the war and try to take each other out more than once. Once the UN arrives, they evacuate Ciki and Nino and find out that the Bomb under Cera cannot be diffused. The tensions between Ciki and Nino reaches a climax when Ciki shoots Nino, causing a UN officer to kill Ciki. The UN general lies to the reporters and tells them that the mine was diffused and Cera needs to be evacuated to a hospital. The film ends showing Cera still on the mine in the trench.

The film shows the reality of war and the terrible things that it drives people to do. The conversation Ciki and Nino have about a girl they both know is a perfect example of this. It shows how they have lived very similar lives and are much more alike than they think. However, Ciki still kills Nino in the end for helping set the mine under Cera. Another example of the results of war is the UN general trying to save face about leaving Cera in the trench. He does this to make himself and his organization look better even though it’s an evil lie. These points emphasize the theme throughout the film of the brutality of war and the terrible things it drives people to do, especially in the case of the Bosnian war.